Blacklight II: Japan In The Crosshairs
by Gravemind94
Summary: It's been a year since I left the United States following the First Blacklight Outbreak, Mercer is dead. Killed by James Heller, but now, Heller has been destroyed as well. Blackwatch has focused their wrath on me, I bailed out of Tokyo, determined to leave them in the dust. How far are they willing to go? What do I do now? And-wait, where the hell am I? And who are these people?
1. Prologue

Prologue: The Beginning of Something Completely Unexpected

 **Somewhere between the Kingdoms, Remnant**

Adam Taurus sat in his tent, overlooking the lay of Cinder's operation. It seemed that she was using the White Fang to protect her own associates, but he didn't know for certain, plus, people die.

"Brother Adam!" One of his followers barged in.

Adam got up, "What is it? I heard that warehouse got attacked."

"It did, Brother. We were attacked by a group of Huntresses."

"Where's the rest of your detachment?" Adam asked.

The White Fang warrior stopped to catch his breath, "I'm it, Brother. Lady Cinder ordered us to hold them off while she evacuated the rest of her forces."

"That's it…" Adam muttered under his breath, clenching the hilt of his blade tightly. "That bitch wants to use the blood of MY brothers and sisters to protect HER associates? HER profits? I will have her head on a pike!"

"You mean to rebel against Cinder?"

Adam nodded, "Precisely, gather my advisers. We have much to plan."

No turning back now, Adam was going to make Cinder pay. He would not allow a disgusting, selfish human being to be the reason his people were dying in droves.

* * *

 **Undisclosed Warehouse, Vale, Remnant**

Roman entered the warehouse, cigar in hand, and lighter in other hand. "Did she have to send the kids?" he asked as Mercury and Emerald stood in front of him.

"You had a rat problem, Roman." Mercury replied.

"I had it under control!"

Emerald smirked, "A ticket to Vacuo says otherwise!"

"That's enough, you three." Cinder calmly replied as she entered the room.

Roman Torchwick spun around, "Cinder! What happened to one of our warehouses? Was it attacked?" he asked.

"Yes, but it's no matter. The White Fang defended it as valiantly as those mongrels could."

"Cinder! Stop throwing White Fang lives away! Adam isn't going to tolerate it!" Roman protested.

Cinder put her hand on Roman's cheek, "Dear Roman, Adam wouldn't dare defy me. And if he ever grew so foolish, I will make an example of him. Now, have the White Fang clear this warehouse too."

"And then what?" Torchwick asked.

"You'll know what you need when you need to know. We're moving to Phase Two."

Torchwick reached for his lighter, only to find it was gone. He looked ahead as Emerald held it in her hands. She stuck her tongue out at him and walked away with it.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale, Remnant**

"So, everyone, school starts back up tomorrow! Let's start the day off with a bang!" Ruby squeaked.

"I like to start things off with a Yang!" Yang smugly responded, the rest of them burying their faces in the palms of their hands.

Blake shook her head, "No, Yang, don't say things like that."

"What about those criminals? Are we just gonna ignore them?" Weiss protested.

"Ah, who cares? I'm sure it'll work out." Yang dismissively replied.

* * *

 **Undisclosed Japanese Military Base, Japan, Earth**

 **September 24, 2016**

"What do you mean 'escaping'? Escaping from what?" Admiral Tanikaze asked.

"Well, I stopped Blackwatch from destroying Manhattan. And now, I'm wanted by the U.S. Government. So, I fled here." I replied.

"Why Japan?"

I sighed, "My girlfriend is in the United States Marines, and she's stationed here."

Admiral Tanikaze nodded, "Who is she?"

"First Lieutenant Samantha Taylor, she's stationed on the USS Titan."

"I have half of a mind to turn you back over the United States."

 _Fuck, either I'm gonna be stuck in a Japanese prison, or get sent back to the States._ I thought to myself, but I had to respond. "What makes you say that?" I asked.

"You're a threat, why should I let you stay here?"

I scratched my chin, "I'm not here to cause problems, more to get away from them."

"You better not be lying to me, I have no tolerance for liars." Tanikaze threatened.

Admiral Tanikaze left the room, and the two soldiers grabbed me and dragged me with him. As much as I would have loved to break the cuffs, bust a hole in the wall, and book it the fuck out; I couldn't. So, I followed them.

Admiral Tanikaze said something in Japanese, he ordered the troops to undo my cuffs. I rubbed my wrists and he turned around. "I will let you stay here, but I will not help you with starting your new life. You're on your own for that."

I left the base without saying a word, preferring to get out of an armed military facility. I pulled my phone out and called my best friend.

* * *

 **One Month Later…**

 **Undisclosed Location, Atlas, Remnant**

"General, we've caught a break!" The Atlas soldier said as he barged into Ironwood's War Room. He saluted and handed Ironwood the file.

General Ironwood dug through the file, "A rebellion? We knew the White Fang was aiding and abetting Mr. Torchwick, but this is great news! Mobilize the military! I want that scumbag rotting in a prison cell by the week's end!" Ironwood ordered.

The soldier said nothing and left, leaving Ironwood on his own. "Your Dust robberies end now, Torchwick." Ironwood said to himself.

* * *

 **Tokyo, Japan, Earth**

 **November 4, 2016**

It's been a little over a month since I've left my old life behind. Despite calling my best friend every few days, I still am somewhat depressed. "I wonder how Mercer is doing." I said to myself. I thought of calling him, but he explicitly told me that I shouldn't do that. Boredom is my biggest enemy, plus the infection is causing me to behave erratic. I hear the voices of it when I'm out in public, it wants me to kill everyone and consume them.

The news isn't helping either, all this bullshit about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Each of them has a plan on what to do with Blackwatch, Trump wants to disband them because he recognizes them as criminals. Meanwhile, Clinton values their assistance, and thinks that sometimes unorthodox methods are needed to accomplish their goals.

"Our election this year is gonna be a cluster fuck." I said to myself, leaving my new home. I noticed something on my arm, a black smidge. But, it was glowing a faint red, I followed it up my arm and took my jacket off.

"Oh, that's just great..." I said sarcastically, eyeing the gross infected mass on my back, how'd that get here? And why is it only showing up now? I put my jacket back on, figuring it'd be best to hide it from everyone else.

* * *

 **Vale, Remnant**

 **Two Weeks Later**

"You've made a big mistake, Adam." Cinder darkly said, creating her bow and readying an arrow.

"You're like the rest of these arrogant humans! I should have never agreed to help you, bitch!" Adam replied, putting his hand on the grip of his blade.

"I will make an example of you, pathetic creature."

Adam pulled the trigger of his blade, his sword flew out of its sheath and smacked Cinder in the face. He darted forward and grabbed his sword, Cinder responded by firing an arrow from her bow. The fight went on for several minutes, until Adam impaled Cinder through the stomach with his blade.

Cinder fell to the ground, defeated. "You won't get away with this, Adam! She will not allow it!"

Adam raised his blade above his head, "Die!" he shouted right as he brought his blade down. His Semblance flared and his blade cut through Cinder's neck like a knife through butter. Her head rolled on the ground before her body fell over.

"No!" Someone shouted as they leaped from the shadows, Adam braced for the person's attack. Mercury's kick was blocked by his blade.

"You're gonna pay for that, Adam!" Mercury shouted, raising his leg trying to drop kick him.

An explosion deafened them, the Atlas Military was closing in. But, Adam was determined to kill Mercury. "You don't have a choice, Taurus! Either you let me go, or the Military takes us both!" Mercury said.

Adam sheathed his blade, "Fine! But know this, Mercury Black, if you cross my path again, your fate will be the same as Cinder's!"

The two of them went their separate ways, and the world of Remnant was spared a catastrophe the likes of which they've never seen. At least for now…

* * *

 **Atlas, Remnant**

 **Six Days Later**

"The Creatures of Grimm have been allowed to exist for too long! This was too close a call! Next time, we might not catch such a break!" One of the councilors shouted.

"We must wipe them out once and for all!" Another councilor bellowed.

"And how would we go about doing that?" the woman asked.

"Get every Huntsman and Huntress and get them out there! Take the fight to the monsters!" the Headmaster of Atlas's Academy said.

General Ironwood stood up, "Then it is settled, we will search every corner of the world. And we won't rest until we've wiped the Grimm completely from our world."

* * *

 **Tokyo, Japan, Earth**

 **August 25, 2017**

 **One Year After the First Blacklight Outbreak**

I couldn't believe the news, Mercer went back to Manhattan and unleashed the virus again! I teetered back and forth on whether I should head back and try to stop him. Truth is, I was a little afraid, would I even be able to convince him to stop? And if I failed? I'm not strong enough to face him, all I could do was hope that this James Heller can stop him. But if he failed, I would head back and try to stop him. My only option is to wait, and hope it doesn't come to that.

(Lengthy prologue, I kinda had to. Plus I think it was a bit rushed, but I did that on purpose. I had to set up the events with this prologue, the events of Volume 3 differed greatly from this. And for those of you who are following this from the first story, I will go back to Warcraft in the next story. Two reasons why I did this, I really wanted to bring RWBY into it, and I want to expand and I'm impatient. Anyways, I got quite the story lined up, so stay tuned.)


	2. Chapter 1: I Can't Catch A Break

**My Apartment**

 **Tokyo, Japan, Earth**

 **November 19, 2017**

I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my back, it was an almost surreal feeling. Alex Mercer, the man who infected me, who unleashed the Blacklight Virus twice, was dead. James Heller did the impossible, I wish I could call him up and thank him for not only saving my own life, but potentially saving all of humanity. As destructive as we may be, we all deserve free-will.

Nothing else I could do but sit and watch the news, albeit I was somewhat concerned as to what Blackwatch would do now.

A phone call interrupted me, as I pulled my phone out, I noticed that it was a number I didn't recognize. I was a little hesitant to answer it, was it one of Mercer's lackeys? A front call from Blackwatch? I took a risk and answered it.

"Hello?" I hesitantly asked.

"You Brandon Shepard?" an unknown voice responded, making no attempt to hide the hostility in his voice.

"Y-yeah, who's this?"

"I figured I should give you a warning, I'm coming for you, motherfucker. I killed Mercer, and now you're next."

James Heller found my number? How? Did he get it from consuming Mercer? Didn't matter, I had to stop him from finding me. I have no plans on following in Mercer's footsteps. "Heller, wait." I replied.

"What?"

I took a deep breath, "Heller, I have no intention of unleashing the virus. Leave me alone, and you won't hear anything about me. I promise. Besides, I owe you my life. I had plans to go back and try to reason with Mercer, but you did that. Clearly, he wouldn't listen."

"Wait, you're… glad?" Heller asked.

"Heller, I promise you won't hear a peep from me." I replied.

"I better not, mother fucker." Heller grudgingly remarked before hanging up.

I breathed a sigh of relief, that was one problem off my back. If Heller could kill Mercer, I'd pose no threat to him, especially now. I decided to give my best friend a call. I dialed John's phone number.

"Hey Brandon! You're not gonna believe who called me today!" John boasted.

I chuckled a little bit, "I got one that probably outdoes yours, man! James Heller called me just a few minutes ago!" I replied.

"No way! What did he have to say?"

"He was just threatening me in case I get any ideas to try to finish what Mercer started. Oh, by the way, I'm sure you got some things to say about that."

John sighed on the other end of the line, "Power can corrupt, man. Don't let it happen to you."

"I know." I reassured. "Oh, who called you today?" I continued.

"You remember Nicole, right?"

I groaned, "Unfortunately, yes, what did she do this time?" if there was one person I didn't want to see, hear from, or hear about, it was that bitch.

"She tried calling me to try to get a hold of you, sounded like she was worried sick."

I scoffed, "I don't give a flying fuck what she was feeling!"

"Hang on, what exactly did she do again?" John asked.

"She was dating my cousin while she was fucking Luke. You remember him, right?" I responded.

"Oh yeah! The three of us used to play _Destiny_ together!" John replied.

"Yeah, you and Luke were my closest friends, now it's just you. Did you tell that slut that I told her to go fuck herself?"

"I told her that you were still mad at her."

I sighed, "Close enough, anyways I'm gonna bail, talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright, take it easy." John said as he hung up.

I dropped my phone on the couch and sighed, today gave me some serious food for thought.

* * *

 **The Pentagon, United States, Earth**

 **November 21, 2017**

"I must admit, Colonel, you've been doing some great work. We lucked out big time with Heller taking ZEUS out for us, all that's left is to destroy that SOB and clean up Manhattan." Secretary Chairman Daniel White commented.

Colonel Douglas Rooks stood at attention, feeling swelling pride in both his handling of the situation in New York Zero, the ferocity of his troops, and the rapidly declining rate of Red Zone activity. In the back of his mind lurked the sting of the fact that his younger brother, Bryan, wasn't around to congratulate him. "Thank you, sir. If I may, what are we going to do about THOR?" Rooks asked.

Secretary White turned his chair around to look at Rooks dead in the eye, "What about him?"

"Sir, THOR is still at large, with all due respect, we should- "

"One problem at a time, Colonel. You are right about THOR still being a thorn in our side, but he's who-the-fuck knows where. We'll track him down as soon as that piece of shit Heller is a pile of smoldering ash! Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Rooks replied as he saluted.

"Good, now get out of my office." Daniel ordered.

Colonel Rooks left the office, resting his head on his arm as he leaned on the wall. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the picture of him and his younger brother in Las Vegas, "I'll avenge you, little bro. I swear this to you, I will destroy THOR or I'll die trying." Rooks said to himself.

* * *

 **Prison Cell #13576, Vale, Remnant**

Roman Torchwick sat in his cell, still trying to process what happened over the last year. Cinder dead, her compatriots scattered, and the White Fang still at large. He tried to warn her that Adam wasn't going to let her use them, but Cinder didn't listen. Now she's dead, their entire operation was in ruins, and Neo and Mercury were nowhere to be found. A banging on the wall next to him disrupted his pondering.

"This is still your fault, Roman!" Emerald Sustrai, one of his companions remarked.

"How is it my fault?!" Roman protested.

"You didn't warn Cinder enough! If you did that, she'd be alive, and Vale would've fallen already! Not to mention Mercury and Neo would still be here with us!"

Roman lit his cigar, blowing smoke rings into the air, "They're still out there, Emerald! I just don't know where they are!"

"In other words, they're gone. Poof. Never to be seen again."

"Emerald, do me a favor. Shut up. Let me enjoy my cigar in peace."

"Bastard." Emerald muttered before sitting back down.

Savoring the cigar, Roman took a deep breath and sat back down. If Mercury was still active, he'd find a way to bust the two of them out of prison. Maybe even set them up with another group of criminals. Cinder may be gone, but much of her network was still active. Whatever her original plan was, maybe they could still pull it off.

* * *

 **Tokyo, Japan, Earth**

 **January 14, 2018**

Another day in exile from the rest of the world, another day I'd happily take over being in a Blackwatch laboratory being dissected, or dead. As I stretched and got out of bed, I took a gander at the time. In bright green lights, the clock read 11:38 AM. Being fourteen hours ahead of my best friend's time zone presented its own problems, but we worked past it.

I reached for my phone to see a dozen missed calls from John, as well as a ton of text messages and voicemails, all of them saying to call him and that it was urgent. I decided to call him.

"News. Now." John demanded, without so much as saying anything else. My gut sank, if he was acting like this, it must've been urgent. I turned on the TV. Almost immediately, I was bombarded with news stories about James Heller being obliterated by a nuclear device in New Mexico.

It didn't feel real, Blackwatch killed him. I was the only Blacklight infected being left on the face of the Earth. The realization of what that meant hit me like a truck: Blackwatch is coming for me. Biomass shifted over me as it took the form of the usual green jacket, khaki shorts, black shirt, and tennis shoes that I usually wore. "I'm bailing out of here, Johnny. Gotta come up with a new escape plan and fast!" I replied as I hung up.

I left the TV going as I desperately grabbed my wallet and phone, "In other news, a meteor shower is due later today over the continent of Asia. China, North and South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and other countries are in the direct path. Astronomers have stated that the meteors due to come in our path are small, and should harmlessly be incinerated as they enter our atmosphere." The news reporter stated.

I turned off the TV and bolted out of my house, my plan was to flee southwest towards Kyoto.

* * *

 **Professor Ozpin's Office, Beacon, Vale, Remnant**

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, team." Professor Ozpin stated as he turned around in his chair. In front of him was Team RWBY, with their leader, Ruby Rose.

Blake spoke up first, "What's this about professor?" she asked.

"I'm picking your team for this mission, we've detected a strange energy anomaly near Mountain Glenn. Considering you're already familiar with the area, you're going to scout the city. Report back to me with any findings."

Ruby jumped up and down in excitement, "You can count on us, Professor!"

Weiss was puzzled, and judging from the looks of Blake, and Yang, they shared in her confusion. Mountain Glenn again? Why does everything happen there? First the White Fang, and then Dr. Merlot?

The four girls departed the office, and Weiss stepped in front of them. "Hang on, isn't it odd that we're going back to Mountain Glenn for the third time?" she protested.

"I agree, we should keep an eye out." Blake agreed, as much as Weiss still didn't trust her, she was still grateful that Blake saw reason.

"Regardless, let's get going, guys! Don't get all Grimm on us! Get it?" Yang chuckled at her own pun.

Silence filled the hallway, and Yang quickly realized that nobody else was in a humorous mood.

(IRL shit again, and is Grimm Eclipse canon? I get mixed answers, but I'll just use it just in case it is. I also want to write smut, I got a Blake x Sun smut in the works. Never tried writing smut before, so might not be my best. Anyways, share with your friends! Peace!)


	3. Chapter 2: Where The Fuck Am I?

**New Haven, Connecticut, United States, Earth**

 **January 14, 2018**

John Mason sat and watched the news, and he didn't like what he was seeing. "A nuclear detonation was confirmed in southern New Mexico, the U.S. Secretary of Defense confirmed that it was not a test. The target was the infected fugitive, James Heller. Secretary White is currently discussing a plan to track down Mercer's only remaining accomplice, Brandon Shepard." The anchor woman said.

"Do you think Brandon will be okay?" Natalie, John's girlfriend asked.

John nodded, "Yeah, he knows how to hide from Blackwatch, I'll try to keep in touch with him as much as I can, but he can fend for himself."

"Shouldn't you be a little worried?"

"Of course, I am. But, he's no stranger to duress, he's faced the odds before. It usually seems bad at first for him, but he finds a way. He always has." John remarked, thinking back to all the times his best friend faced challenges in his own life.

* * *

 **Twenty Miles Outside Kyoto, Japan, Earth**

 **January 14, 2018**

I ran. I ran until the city was gone and I was in the forest, I had to escape. Blackwatch was coming for me, and I had to put as much distance between me and them as humanly possible. "God damn it! How could this happen?" I asked myself. James Heller was dead? Colonel Rooks was in command, and he probably knows I killed his younger brother. Would he come after me, even though I was in another foreign country? I know if I had any siblings, I would want revenge.

A streak in the sky caught my attention, so I turned my gaze upwards. The meteor shower already started, so I decided to sit and watch. Regardless of my current situation, it was a peaceful evening. With the sun setting, I had a wonderful view of the meteor shower. The sky was filled with streaks of cosmic rocks being incinerated due to the friction of our atmosphere.

An hour passed, but it seemed like just a few minutes. I was too caught up watching the meteors. Suddenly, a large meteor surged above my head, and slammed into the ground about a mile north of me, kicking up a mountain of dirt and rubble large enough to be seen from where I was. The noise deafened me, and I turned towards the impact site. "Holy shit!" I said aloud. I froze in my tracks, every instinct in my body was screaming for me to book it away. But something was compelling me to head to it. Another feeling, I wasn't sure what it was. Something gnawing at me to investigate.

I defied my conscience and ran towards where the meteor landed…

* * *

 **Beacon, Remnant**

"So, who's this expert Huntsman we're supposed to be meeting?" Blake asked.

Ruby shrugged and the four of them kept walking towards the landing pad, an Airship was to meet them there and take them to Mountain Glenn. As they approached, the deafening sound of the Airship made the team cover their ears. The four girls watched as the door to the Airship opened, and waiting on the other side of the door was someone that Ruby and Yang were more than excited to meet: Qrow Branwen.

Qrow pulled his flask out and drank as the four of them eyed him, "Well, looks like I'm going with this team of pipsqueaks." Qrow remarked, chuckling at his own joke. Weiss scowled at him as he stumbled around in a slightly inebriated stupor.

Ruby and Yang didn't care, they ran and hugged their uncle as they giggled at his intoxication. "Uncle Qrow!" Ruby squeaked, jumping up and down. Qrow picked up Ruby as she tightly held on to his arm, "Did you miss me, Uncle Qrow? Did you? Did you?" she continued.

"Nope."

"Well I hope you're going to lay off the sauce during our mission, Uncle Qrow. Dad was pretty mad at you last time you were drunk during a mission." Yang defiantly replied.

Qrow brushed Yang off without even addressing her concern, the two sisters boarded the Airship and Weiss hurried past the drunk Huntsman. But she didn't evade Qrow's attention. "Do tell your sister, I said 'hello'." Qrow whispered to Weiss.

"Get away from me, you drunk!" Weiss shouted as she dashed past him.

"Uncle Qrow, what if there's Grimm there?" Ruby asked.

Qrow turned around to look at her, "We clear them out, investigate the energy signature, and report back to Oz with whatever we find."

The five of them boarded the Airship and departed for Mountain Glenn.

* * *

 **Twenty Miles Outside Kyoto, Japan, Earth**

 **January 14, 2018**

The meteor caused quite a mess, debris from trees everywhere, some of them even on fire. But I ignored the carnage as I made my way to where it landed. The heat from the crash was enough to make me break out into a sweat, but I pushed forward. I could stand the heat anyways. A steep drop nearly caused me to fall over, I made it into the actual impact site. The heat became even stronger, and the smoke reduced my visibility to such a point that I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face.

I shifted my eyes to Thermal, one of the many gifts that Mercer gave me, and I saw through the smoke clearly. Something stood out in the middle, a large object in the heart of the impact site. A crystalline shaped object, it was a little bit taller than I was. I grabbed it, and was surprised that it was oddly cool to the touch. The alien object was somewhat heavy, but I hoisted it over my shoulder and hauled it out of the crash site and away from the smoke. I couldn't quite explain it, but I felt a feeling of déjà vu. I've never seen this thing in my life, but it still felt familiar to me somehow. My mind shifted back to the Naaru I saw a few years earlier, maybe this thing was connected to that being somehow?

The smoke cleared and I shifted my eyesight back to normal. First thing I noticed was this crystalline object had a purplish hue to it, and it gently vibrated as I held it. I was no xeno-archaeologist, but this wasn't human made, or made naturally. A far more advanced alien race must've built this object. It was too flawlessly cut to have been an accident, and I could feel a bizarre energy in the heart of the crystal. I rubbed some of the dust off it and the object started to levitate. The object flew out of my hands and hovered in front of me, I shielded my eyes from the growing intensity of the glow in it.

I closed my eyes and felt a jolt of pain throughout my body.

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

The light dimmed and I saw myself in the ruins of a building, I had no idea where the hell I was. The building was abandoned, and judging from the dust and unkempt nature, it had been abandoned for a while. "Hello?" I shouted. No response, I walked outside the building. The entire city was destroyed, no sign of anyone having been here recently. I wandered the destroyed city for a few minutes before seeing a bizarre creature.

It was a dark creature with jet black fur, with bone like features on its face, and parts of its body. The creature bore a sharp resemblance to a Werewolf. The creature sniffed the air, and turned around, looking right at me. It roared and charged at me, I readied my claws and dodged the creature's clumsy attacks. As I looked closely at the beast, it bore red marks on the white, boney protrusion on its face. The werewolf creature swung again and I severed its arm.

The creature roared in agony and reeled back in pain, giving me a window to knock it down, and flatten its head. The infection acted on its own will and tried to consume it, but the monster evaporated into a cloud of black smoke before I could consume it. I was puzzled, this was nothing that I've ever seen before. I was so confused that I didn't even hear the footsteps of people behind me. A sharp poke in my back caused me to freeze in place.

"Turn around. Now!" A womanly voice demanded. As I began to turn back, I noticed that the woman had white hair, a white dress, and held a weapon akin to that of a rapier. I wasn't exactly a good sight to see, both my arms were covered in viral mass and I had grotesque claws. Five people were behind me, four girls and one man. One person stood out the most, a black-haired girl that had streaks of red in her hair; she wore a black and red dress, and she had a giant scythe. Next to her was a blonde that had hair so long, it went down to her waist.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked the white-haired girl.

"Be quiet!" she screeched, tightening the grip on her blade. "I'll ask the questions!" she continued.

The little girl with the scythe stepped forward, "Weiss, calm down! There's no need to be rude."

"So, where am I? And who are you?" I asked again, determined to get an answer.

"I'm Ruby Rose!" she squeaked.

I shrugged, the black-haired girl with the black bow in her hair whispered something to the girl in the white, I couldn't fully hear what she said but I picked up something about my abilities, and something grim. The man walked toward me, putting away his blade, and pulling out a flask.

"I've never seen you before, and I know everyone who's anyone in Vale. Qrow. Qrow Branwen, Huntsman, lady-killer, drinker." He said to me, his breath reeking of alcohol. "And you are?" he continued.

I scrambled to think of a name, I still wasn't sure where "Vale" was, maybe it was a town somewhere else in the world. Although I began to think maybe I was in a different timeline for Earth. "Qrow? Like the bird?" I asked.

"Yeah, now who are you?"

"Sh-Shepard." I hesitantly said, _Really? Did I seriously just refer to myself as Commander Shepard? Fucking hell, I'm retarded. But, then again, do I really want them knowing my real name?_ I thought to myself, using _Mass Effect_ 's main character as a front for my real identity seemed ridiculous to me.

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "That's it? Okay, whatever. Come on, let's get going."

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see the blonde, "Nice name, pretty boy." She said to me. She had what seemed like fist weapons on her wrists, probably best to avoid getting in a fight with her.

 _Pretty boy? She's probably just teasing me, best to just ignore it._ I thought to myself, "Uh, thanks. Who are you?"

"Yang." She replied, extending her hand out.

It only took me a second to realize that I still had my claws out, so I shifted them back to normal and shook her hand. "Okay, so what now?" I asked.

"Let's just get going, someone is going to be interested in meeting you." Qrow said.

 **Okay, I see people use this format for adding notes, first things first; not a romance! Just want to get that on the table right now. Yang just thinks I'm attractive, that's it! I want that on record, god damn it. Anyways, I came up with a Coco and Velvet smut I want to share, but I'm not sure whether to tack it on to this, or separate it. The reason why is because I (as in my character) cameo in it. Nothing serious, I basically just walk by and say "Hey." I also wanna write a Ruby x Yang smut because I know that's controversial in the fandom, would be funny to get some responses on that. Anyways, I don't want this to be a monthly update, so I will shoot for a new chapter every 2-3 weeks. Later!**


	4. Chapter 3: A Casual Race

**Somewhere apparently called Vale**

 **Unknown Date**

I walked with the five of them, all the while the blonde, Yang, kept giving me weird glances. I ignored them and kept walking next to the man, Qrow. He pulled a flask out and took a large swig from it, looking back at everyone.

"Okay, everyone ready to go?" He asked.

"Drinking something?" I asked, curious as to why Qrow was a bigger drinker than I am.

"Oh, just some vodka. No, you can't have any. This is my flask."

"Well, maybe we should get a drink sometime."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind." Qrow responded, putting his flask away.

"Don't forget about the rest of us, stranger!" The reddish-black haired girl with the scythe peeped.

"It's Shepard, your name is Ruby, right?" I asked, still mentally smacking myself for thinking of that name first, but it was too late now.

Ruby nodded, "Yep! Ruby Rose!"

"Like the actress?"

A blank expression came over Ruby's face, almost as if she didn't know who I was referring to, "Umm, yes?" she hesitantly replied.

The group fell silent and we kept walking, I still didn't know where I was going. But at least these people seemed nice, excluding the white haired one. She was angry at me for whatever reason, then again; I didn't exactly make a good impression with my abilities.

Speak of the devil, the white-haired girl tapped my shoulder and scowled at me as I turned around. "Everyone else might ignore your disgusting semblance, but I won't. I'll find out what you _really_ are, one way or another." She hissed.

The black-haired girl stepped in between us, "Weiss, don't be rude. I understand you don't like him, but that doesn't mean you have to be a jerk."

It was nice that this woman was sticking up for me, even though she doesn't know me very well. But I didn't want to cut in, things are already somewhat fragile between me and these people. Whatever helps to ease the tension, I'll take it.

"Don't side with him, Blake! He's probably here to kill us! If I was the leader of this team, I'd lock him up and throw away the damn key!" The white-haired girl, apparently named Weiss, hissed.

I had enough, I wasn't going to let her talk about me like I wasn't here, so I tapped her shoulder, "Don't touch me, freak!" Weiss screeched, smacking my hand away.

"You'd have to catch me first." I growled, smirking after I said it.

The arrogant Weiss huffed and stormed away in a fit. Regardless, the rest of us kept walking away, this place was nice, fresh air, trees, even despite the destroyed city.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Ruby again, this time she was all giddy, "I bet I could catch you, Shepard!" she squeaked.

That statement was enough to raise an eyebrow, "Really?" I asked, curious as to why she thought that way. If this little girl thinks she can catch me, she's mistaken. Granted, I'm not The Flash, but I easily break a hundred miles an hour. Faster than Mercer was, that was for certain.

"Yep! I'm the fastest one here!"

Ruby seemed determined to prove herself right, so I decided to humor her. It's been a while since I had a nice run. "Okay, I'll challenge you on that, Ruby. In fact, how about we make it more interesting?" I asked. Her weapon interested me, judging from the brief view I had of it; Ruby's weapon had a scope, so was it also a sniper rifle? I just had to know, due to consuming tons of Blackwatch soldiers, I kind of became a gun nut.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Let's place a wager. If I win, I get to shoot your weapon a few times."

Ruby pondered for a minute, "Okay! What do I get if I win?"

"Well, what do you want?" I asked, shrugging as I said it.

I saw the black-haired girl whisper something to her, even with my enhanced hearing; I couldn't hear what she said. But Ruby turned back to me, "If I win, you tell us about your semblance." She replied.

I don't know why she was calling the Mercer Virus a 'semblance' but I figured that's what she was referring to. "Um, okay. So, where are we racing to?" I asked.

"That big building! We're gonna dart to it, run to the top, then back down, and back here! Think you can keep up?"

I nodded, and Ruby walked next to me, taking her place at the starting line she appointed for us. Meanwhile, Qrow took another drink, "Okay, you two ready? Don't care, anyways, go!" he shouted.

I bolted, leaving Ruby in the dust.

* * *

Weiss looked behind her to make sure nobody followed, she was getting an odd feeling about this new arrival. And she wasn't going to stand for everybody else's ignorance, so she took her scroll out from her pocket and called the one person she knows will help her. "Winter? It's me." She said, tapping her foot on the ground.

"Oh, hello, Weiss! What seems to be the problem?" Winter asked.

"You're still at Beacon, right?"

"Of course, I will be until next Saturday. Why?"

Weiss tried thinking of how to explain it to her older sister, granted, Winter might not believe her. But, she had to, everything about this stranger seemed completely wrong. "We found this… person in the ruins of Mountain Glenn. His semblance is disgusting!" Weiss nervously described.

Through the video call, Winter raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? What is it?"

"H-he changed his arms into these disgusting claws! There's no Aura on him, and I think he's some new type of Grimm!"

Considering the new guy one of the Creatures of Grimm seemed like a bit of a far-fetched idea, but it somewhat made sense. The only hole in that thought was how he was attacked by a Beowolf. Either way, if the rest of team RWBY was going to ignore the threat, Weiss wouldn't. She was going to get rid of this problem before it got worse.

"Well, if he's a new Creature of Grimm, you and I will take care of it. Just bring him to Beacon, Weiss, and I'll take it from there. Okay?" Winter asked.

"Wait, what do I do until then?" Weiss protested.

"Just calm down, and get him to Beacon."

"O-okay, thanks, Winter." Weiss replied, hanging up and putting her scroll away. With a plan to dispose of the monster, she walked back to rejoin the rest of the team.

* * *

I sprinted towards the destroyed skyscraper Ruby appointed as the target for our race, thinking I left her in the dust, I turned back around to see how much distance I covered. To my surprise, Ruby was right behind me, leaving a trail of red rose petals behind her as she ran. "How the hell did you catch up so quickly?" I asked.

"I told you I was fast!" Ruby squeaked in response.

I jumped over a derelict car in my way and kept running, with Ruby right on my tail. A three-story building was directly in front of us, so I leapt into the air. Hearing gunshots behind me, I turned around; Ruby was using the recoil from her weapon to propel herself into the air. She landed on the roof and kept running, whereas I jumped clear over the roof and landed back on the street.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Ruby protested, passing me just a little bit.

I said nothing and kept running, rapidly closing the distance between us and the skyscraper. If she was surprised about me jumping clear over a three-story building, she was in for a real surprise. The wind streaked past both of us as Ruby was neck and neck with me in terms of distance. I jumped for the skyscraper and sprinted up the side of the building, Ruby kept firing to propel herself up the side. I made it to the top and jumped off the side, hitting the ground moments later.

Ruby pulled up right next to me, "Heh, you're faster than I thought." I said.

"Yep! But, it's been fun, Shep! I'll wait for ya at the finish line!" Ruby replied, before darting off instantly. I was left in the dust, nothing but rose petals left where she just was. She was toying with me the whole time? I was too shocked for words. _Might as well finish the race, but how do I break the truth to them about the Mercer Virus?_ I thought to myself. I lost, I lost badly. Hopefully, they won't know much, if anything, about Alex Mercer. A couple minutes later, and I made it back to the rest of the group.

Ruby started to jump up and down, "I win! I win! I told you I could beat you!"

"Shit." I muttered under my breath.

"Actually, I want to get back to Beacon really badly. I need a cookie! So, I'll wait on pestering you about your semblance." Ruby squeaked.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and the six of us started walking, "Wait, what's Beacon?" I asked.

"Our school! Don't worry, you'll see it soon enough!" The blonde, Yang, replied.

The prissy Weiss showed up again, but she said nothing and simply walked with us.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

After getting off the Airship that, for some reason, couldn't get us anywhere else. Would've saved some walking, "Well, welcome to Beacon!" Ruby said. I looked around, this was no school I've ever seen. Students were walking around, most of them not looking at us, but a few turned their heads towards me. In the distance, I could see another white-haired girl, with a few robot guards carrying what seemed like assault rifles.

 _Robots? Wow._ I thought to myself, but I saw Weiss run towards her. "Winter! Thank goodness!" she said.

The woman, apparently named Winter, walked past Weiss and looked at me, "You must be who my little sister is talking about. You're coming with me." She remarked, narrowing her eyes as she stared at me.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen." I replied.

Winter ignored me and turned to face one of the robots before saying, "Seize him." One of the robots approached me holding what looked like handcuffs, and another robot pointed its weapon at me. I wasn't about to let this woman get her dirty hands on me, so I grabbed the robot with the cuffs, prompting the other robot to open fire on me. I shielded myself with the chassis from the first robot, before throwing it at the second robot. Grabbing the other robot's neck with my Whipfist, I tore its head off. Both robots fell over in a shower of sparks.

"I already told you that's not happening." I smugly responded.

The look on Winter's face told me she was pretty surprised, but she growled and pulled out a sword, "Oh, really? This shouldn't take too long."

Winter tried to stab me with her blade and I stepped to the side, forming my blade. Sparks flew as our blades collided, I kicked her in the chest and she reeled back a little bit. Winter charged again, ducked as I swung my blade and impaled me in the chest. She pulled the sword out and I tried to clock her in the face, but she blocked my fist. "Impossible! You shouldn't be alive right now!" she said, shocked.

I said nothing, switched to my Hammerfists and tried to slam her in the ground with them, but she leapt back. The concrete was smashed in from my strike, and Winter summoned what appeared to be a white glyph below her and lunged at me at a blinding speed. I brought my blade back up and parried, a shockwave of air blasted from us.

"Enough!" Someone shouted in the distance, the crowd of students around us turned around and a white-haired man with glasses and a cane approached Winter and I, with quite a few of those robot soldiers behind him. The man wore a black suit with a green shirt underneath, and he also held a cane.

"Winter, stand down. As for you," he said, turning to address me, "come with me, or this gets much worse." He continued.

As soon as the man said that, all the robot soldiers pointed their guns at me, I was outnumbered by a large margin. "Fuck." I muttered under my breath, but I changed my blade arm back to normal. I didn't like surrendering, but I didn't have much of a choice.

The blonde, Yang, tried to intervene, "Professor, what are you doing?" she protested.

"Calm down, Miss Xiao Long, I'll take it from here." The man replied, turning towards the robots who already had me cuffed, "Take the Hybrid to the Vault." He continued.

 _Hybrid? What the hell does he think I am?_ I thought to myself, having no choice but to be escorted to wherever I was being taken to. "Out of the frying pan, and into the fire." I said to myself.

* * *

With the chaos subsided, Qrow took the opportunity to talk to Winter, he slicked his hair back and approached her, "Well, that was interesting, wasn't it?" he asked.

Winter turned to face him, "That monster won't last long with Ozpin interrogating him. But what do you want this time?" she responded.

"You know what I want, Ice Queen." Qrow replied, smirking and placing his hands on her waist.

It was too much, Winter started to blush, her face turning a bright red, "Get your head out of the gutter, Qrow!" she shouted, before looking around to make sure that they were alone. When she realized that they were, she reached into her shirt and pulled out a key, discreetly placing it in Qrow's shirt pocket.

"Not now, Qrow. Here's my key, give me about forty-five minutes. Okay?" she whispered before quickly storming away.

"Looks like I still got it." Qrow said to himself, pulling out his flask and chugging the rest of the contents.

 **Question: Should I stick with the monthly update? Or should I try to shoot for a new update every 2-3 weeks? Let me know, and I hope you like whatever the ship name for Qrow x Winter is!**


	5. Chapter 4: A Hostile Interrogation

**Beacon, somewhere called Vale, Unknown Planet Name**

 **Unknown Date, but about a few hours since I arrived**

It was moments after my little bout with that "Winter" woman, the way she moved, she couldn't have been human. Her speed was almost on par with mine, but none of that speculation mattered. As I was escorted into an elevator, I couldn't help but look around the school. Something told me this wasn't an ordinary school, what with everyone being armed to the teeth.

The elevator door opened, and one of the robots hit me in the back. As we exited the elevator, we passed some other people that looked like military personnel. Every single one of them gave me angry glances, what stuck out the most was this brown-haired woman that seemed to be in Cryogenic Stasis. If that was the case, she didn't look like it. She had a scar over her left eye, and she took a quick glance at me before her eyes widened in fear.

 _Un-fucking-believable…_ I thought to myself, before I was standing in front of a prison cell. The door opened and some soldiers took my cuffs off and shoved me inside it. It was a small prison cell, having only a bed as its only decorative piece of furniture. With nothing better to do, I decided to lay down.

An hour passed, and nothing happened. I started to sing to myself, "Roses are red, violets are blue. One day we'll cruise down Blood Gulch Avenue. It's Red versus Red, and Blue versus Blue. It's I against I, and me against-" I was singing softly when the door opened, interrupting me. That white-haired guy with glasses walked in with another man behind him. The second guy had spiky green hair, glasses, and looked disheveled. "You." I said to myself, sitting up. The two of them said nothing and sat down at the desk outside my cell. Whoever these two people were, I could sense the hostility from them. The man with the green hair pulled out a Thermos and drank from it, setting it down on the desk. Who were these two? Why the sudden interest in me? And why did the white-haired guy call me a "Hybrid"? Does he think I'm like one of those dark creatures I encountered when I first arrived?

What seemed like an eternity of silence passed before one of them said anything, "You can't keep this silent act going forever." The white-haired man said to me.

"Then what do you want from me?" I asked.

"Information." He replied, pushing his glasses up.

I got off the bed and walked up to the bars on the cell, crossing my arms. "What kind of information?" I questioned.

"Who created you? Was it Doctor Merlot?"

"Who the hell is that?"

The white-haired man sighed and appeared frustrated, "Don't play stupid with me, Hybrid."

"I'm not playing stupid with you!" I shouted.

"Yes, you are. Merlot was dabbling with powers beyond his comprehension. And look where it got him. But why are you here? The Creatures of Grimm are all but eradicated, we have almost completely reclaimed our world. So, what is she planning? Is she after the Relics?" the man asked.

"What relics? And who are you talking about?" I wondered, why he was talking about people and objects like I knew about them, I wasn't sure. But I was going to find out.

The white-haired man got up and slammed his fists on the table in a fit of anger, "You know damn well who I'm talking about! That's what Salem is after, isn't it? She's never gotten close to the Relics before, and she won't now! We were divided during the Great War, but she has no chance to stop us when we're united! And the same goes for you!"

The man with the spiky green hair finally spoke up after being silent since they walked in, "Ozpin, yelling at him won't get us the information we need."

"Not 'him', Oobleck. 'It'! It's not human! It's not even a Faunus!"

The two of them broke out into an argument, leaving me to watch it unfold. Who was this Salem he mentioned? I had a question so I interrupted their bickering, "Wait, what did this 'Salem' have to do with World War One?" I asked. This "Ozpin" mentioned the Great War, which was one of the names for the First World War, maybe now I could get some answers.

"World War One?" Ozpin asked, "Fine, if that's what you call it. Since you're done playing stupid, why don't you tell me what started the war?"

"A group of Serbian Nationalists killed Franz Ferdinand, the Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire." I replied, being somewhat of a history buff.

"That is not how it started! Quit making things up, Hybrid!" Ozpin shouted.

"Yes, it is! Now let me out!" I demanded.

"If I let you out of there, you'll kill everybody in this school."

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head as I stared at this Ozpin person, "Just you."

Ozpin violently threw everything off the table he and Oobleck were sitting at, "Threatening me will get you nowhere!"

The spiky green-haired guy, Oobleck, stood up suddenly, "Ozpin, calm down! I have an idea."

Ozpin took a deep breath and sat back down, "You're right, what is it, Oobleck?"

I was furious, these two idiots were just bickering over me. I considered breaking out and escaping, but Oobleck approached the bars holding what looked like a cell phone. On the screen appeared what looked like a map, "Here, point to which Kingdom you're from." Oobleck said to me, showing me the map.

 _What? What the blue fuck is this supposed to be?! This map looks like a fucking mess!_ I thought to myself, this map made no sense! I didn't know the layout at all! Then it hit me: I'm not on Earth. Wherever I am, it's obviously not home. I stared at the map with a look of shock on my face.

"Curious, if you don't know where, then tell me the name of the Kingdom you're from." Oobleck calmly said to me.

"United States?" I hesitantly asked.

A quick adjustment of his glasses and Oobleck turned around, "That's not any Kingdom I've heard of."

"Well, you seem to have an idea. I have other matters to attend to, Oobleck. Let me know of any changes." Ozpin said, getting up and leaving. The door slammed behind him, leaving me alone with Oobleck.

"Well, it's the country I'm from." I said.

"Fascinating, so this 'Great War' of yours, tell me about it."

I walked back to my bed and sat down on it. "Well, it started like this…"

* * *

 **Team RWBY's Dorm, Beacon**

The dorm room that was assigned to Team RWBY was livid with yelling, screeching, slamming fists on tables, and all sorts of noise. "Weiss, why did you get him arrested?" Blake shouted.

"Because, Blake, he's a monster! Watch, Ozpin will prove he's part Grimm and you'll see I was right!" Weiss protested.

"We should've given him the benefit of the doubt, I don't think he was there to attack us. Plus, if you were paying attention, he got attacked by a Beowolf!" Ruby added.

"Yeah! He's not a Grimm, plus he's hot!" Yang replied, giggling.

"Are you serious, Yang?! He's a fucking monster! Why would you think like that?" Weiss screeched.

Yang rubbed the back of her head, "What? It's true! He looks good!"

Blake left the room, leaving the rest of the team to bicker.

* * *

 **Ozpin's Office, Beacon**

As Ozpin opened the door to his office and stepped inside, he sighed in exhaustion. Who, or whatever this thing was, he'd get to the bottom of why this monster was sent to Beacon.

"Oh, Professor, can we talk to you?" Jaune Arc asked.

"Mister Arc and Miss Nikos, what can I do for you two?" Ozpin replied.

"Who was the weird guy that you captured?"

"Don't worry, it's all under control. Oobleck and I have it contained."

"It? What do you mean by that?" Pyrrha responded.

Ozpin adjusted his glasses and sat at his desk, "Team RWBY found some sort of monster out on their scouting mission, and Oobleck and I are currently interrogating it."

A quick glance at Pyrrha, and Jaune realized she was up to something, having been together for almost two years, he could tell just by looking at her. _What is she thinking?_ Jaune thought to himself. Whatever she was thinking of, he'd be there to help her.

"Can we see him?" Pyrrha asked.

"Uh, Pyrrha, I'm not sure that's a clever idea." Jaune replied.

"We'll be fine, honey."

"Hmm, that gives me an idea, Miss Nikos. Oobleck and I haven't gotten much out of him, maybe if you two tried being open and friendly to him. Maybe you two can get him to talk."

Jaune stepped in between the two of them, "Wait just a minute! You're going to put us in danger with him?" He asked, getting a little angry.

"I realize that I'm putting you two at risk, something I would rather not do. Look, I would prefer that monster remain alive, but if it attacks you; don't hesitate to destroy it. Take the elevator down, I'll let Oobleck know you two are going to stop by."

"Okay, thanks Professor." Pyrrha replied.

"One quick thing for you two to remember: It's not human, no matter how much it pretends to be."

Jaune and Pyrrha said nothing as they entered the elevator. As the door closed, Pyrrha turned towards him. "What do you think he means by that, Jaune?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, but whatever the case, we'll be ready." Jaune replied, hugging her.

"You're so cute when you're acting serious."

"Pyrrha, I'm actually trying to be serious here!" Jaune replied, pouting cutely.

Pyrrha said nothing and giggled.

* * *

 **Prison Cell, Beacon, Somewhere Called Vale, Unknown Planet Name**

 **About Six Hours Since My Arrival**

"The Humans of this planet called 'Earth' seem violent. And I thought our history was filled with conflict." Oobleck said, pondering what I told him of the last hundred years of our history. "So, you weren't created in a lab? Then, what gave you your… Semblance?" He continued.

"Remember Alex Mercer? He gave me my abilities. And why does everyone call it that?" I replied.

"That's because we have something similar that we refer to as a Semblance. But, how did one man get that kind of power?"

"Well, he was infected with it and-" I was cut off by the door opening again, this time I saw a blonde man and a red haired woman wearing what appeared to be an Ancient Greek set of armor.

"Miss Nikos and Mister Arc! I was expecting you two." Oobleck replied, turning around to address the two people that walked in.

"Hey, Professor Oobleck, so what's the deal with this guy?" Jaune asked.

"I have a name, dude." I interrupted.

"Right, sorry."

"Hello! I'm Pyrrha Nikos! It's nice to meet you!" The redhead said to me.

"Right, I go by Shepard. And who's your boyfriend?" I questioned.

"Me? I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc." The blonde man responded.

"Okay, glad you two are actually being friendly." I replied, "Think you can get me out?" I continued.

"I'm not sure about that."

Oobleck stood up, "Right, anyways, I'll be sure to let Ozpin know what you've told me. It could be nothing, or IT MIGHT BE EVERYTHING! We need to talk more history soon, but I got papers to grade! I must be off!" he shouted before grabbing his Thermos and darting out the door.

"Someone spike that guy's coffee with crack?" I asked.

"I'm not sure what you mean, but he's crazy. Look, Pyrrha and I were going to go somewhere with the other two members of our team. Do you want to go with us?" Jaune asked me.

I pried the bars on my cell apart and walked out, "Uhh, sure I guess." Not like I had much else to do.

The redhead girl jumped up and down, "Awesome! This is going to be great! I'll be right back!"

"Wait, where are you going, Pharah?"

"It's Pyrrha, but I'm going to talk to our other teammates!" she said before leaving.

Pyrrha ran off, leaving me alone with Jaune. "So, you two are together?" I asked.

Jaune rubbed the back of his head, "Yep! We've been dating for about two years!"

"Not bad." I responded.

Jaune and I started to leave, whoever this guy is, he seemed nice.

 **I swear to god, I get THIS close to getting a job and then they call or email me saying "We're looking for someone else, piss off." Sorry to bring my job search into the end note, but I just wanted to get that off my chest. Anyways, sorry for the delay, hard to find time to do anything nowadays, especially since I start a summer college course in about a week. And I know World War One seems kind of odd, but I wanted to establish a cultural disconnect since their war is also called The Great War, and that was one of the names for World War One.**


	6. Chapter 5: Settling In

**New Haven, Connecticut, United States, Earth**

 **January 15, 2018**

"Amidst the wonder of last night's meteor shower, reports have come in that a meteor has hit Japan about twenty miles East of Kyoto. The Japanese Prime Minister has yet to confirm this rumor." The news anchorwoman said.

John was surprised about the meteor landing, but thought nothing of it. Instead, he changed the channel to _Rick and Morty_ and didn't give it another thought.

* * *

 **Pentagon, Virginia, United States, Earth**

 **January 17, 2018**

"Colonel, we haven't had any luck tracking down THOR since his abrupt disappearance about two years ago." Secretary White commented.

Colonel Douglas Rooks wasn't going to have any of it, he would find THOR and destroy him. Still grieving over the loss of his younger brother, Bryan, Colonel Rooks was ready to defy direct orders from the US to come after him. But the slippery son of a bitch eluded them! No matter, he'd find THOR and wipe him from the face of the Earth. Whatever the cost.

"Well, find him Mr. Secretary!" Rooks ordered.

"I understand you want him dead as much as I do, Rooks; but you don't get to make demands of the Department of Defense. As soon as we finish with mopping up the mess in New York, we can devote resources to finding him. Until then, do your job."

Colonel Rooks nodded, but he had one more question, "Mr. Secretary, what about my request for the DOD to authorize Operation Wildfire?"

Operation Wildfire was a slightly more humane way of destroying the infection, albeit slightly more was a somewhat unique way to put it. It involved a fleet of A10 Warthogs armed with Napalm canisters, strafing runs over Manhattan, and burning the infection and everything to the ground.

Secretary White looked up from his paperwork, a look of frustration on his face, "It's going through the rest of the Board now."

Without saying another word, Colonel Rooks left the room, fed up with the laziness of the United States Military. If he wanted something done about THOR, he was going to have to take matters into his own hands.

As Rooks made his way back to his command center, a Blackwatch soldier stopped him. "Colonel, sir, we may have a possible lead on THOR." He commented, saluting.

Rooks turned around, a fire burning in his eyes, "Show me, Sergeant."

The soldier and Colonel Rooks walked towards the briefing room. On display was more breaking news about the mysterious meteor that struck Japan. "Sir, that meteor that hit the Earth was no ordinary meteor." Sergeant Jon Etheridge said to him.

"Explain, Sergeant."

Etheridge processed Rooks's request, not because he didn't know what was going on, but because he didn't quite know how to explain it. "It-it's an alien object, sir. Whatever it is, or whatever it does, it's not from Earth." Etheridge explained.

Impatience began to build in the Colonel's attitude, he wasn't interested in some stupid alien meteor. All that mattered to him was finding THOR and avenging his brother. And if the United States Department of Defense wasn't willing to do what needed to be done, he would do things his way.

Etheridge caught on to this, "Anyways, scientists have discovered something while attempting carbon dating on this object: THOR's viral signature is on it."

"What do you mean, Etheridge?" Rooks asked, standing up.

"THOR touched it, sir. Only problem is the trail goes cold after that."

"Find him. Whatever it takes." Rooks ordered, leaving the briefing room.

* * *

 **Beacon, Vale, Unknown Planet**

 **About Six and a Half Hours after my arrival**

"Jaune, right? Where are we going?" I asked the strange blonde boy, who called himself Jaune.

"Yep, that's my name! Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it!" He replied.

"Right, so where are we going?"

Jaune scratched the back of his head, "Well, the four of us are going out tonight. Wanna come with us?"

"Okay, I don't have a lot of money, though." I responded, shrugging as we kept walking.

Jaune and I kept walking through the hallways. As I looked around, I saw that this place was pretty high class. The students that I saw that weren't in some form of combat armor wore spiffy school uniforms. I wasn't much of one for wearing uniforms anyways.

A few minutes later, and Jaune and I arrived at another dorm room. "Well, here's our bedroom!" Jaune commented.

I was about to say something when the door behind us opened, and I saw three of those girls from earlier. The blonde, Yang looked at me, winked and waved, "Hey cutie!" She said.

Suddenly, the white-haired girl, walked out and stared at me with an angry look on her face, "Weiss, right?" I asked, still unsure of her name.

"You're hiding something!" Weiss replied.

"Uh-huh…" I dismissively said.

Weiss crossed her arms, "You may have everyone else fooled, but you will NOT fool me, monster!" She shrieked.

Since Weiss already hates me, I decided to have some fun with her. I cleared my throat, "Good… I can feel your anger." I replied in my best Emperor Palpatine voice.

"Don't test me, freak!" Weiss shrieked in response.

"I am defenseless… take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey toward the Dark Side will be complete!"

Before I could say anything else, I was greeted with a rapier to my throat. "I'll do it! I'll cut your arrogant tongue out!" Weiss shouted, tightening her grip on her weapon.

Ignoring her petty threat, I grabbed the tip of her weapon, "Lady, put that away before you get hurt." I said.

A shield came in between the two of us, "Okay, that's enough!" Jaune protested.

"He started it!" Weiss argued.

"Just put your fucking toothpick away." I smugly replied.

A door a little away from us opened to reveal Qrow and that lady I fought earlier. So, I let go of Weiss's weapon, "Oh look, back for another fight?" I asked.

"Quiet!" The woman replied.

"Winter, I got this." Qrow replied, "So, want to get a few drinks?" He asked me.

"Sure, why not?" I commented.

Yang suddenly peeked her head out, "Can I come, Uncle Qrow?" she begged.

"Sorry, kiddo. Next time you can."

What started out as a weird day, a fight, and an interrogation; quickly turned into a night out drinking? Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

Weiss reared her ugly head and stopped Qrow and I in our tracks, "Why were you in my sister's bedroom?" Weiss asked.

"Things." Qrow smugly commented.

"What do you mean 'things'?"

Qrow and I ignored her and walked away.

* * *

 **Qrow Bar, Vale, Unknown Planet**

 **Seven Hours after my arrival**

"You a drinker, Shepard?" Qrow asked.

"Yeah, so what's the occasion?" I responded.

"Just wanted to ask you some questions. So, what are you having?"

I looked at the cocktail menu, not sure what exactly to get. I was stuck deciding between the White Atlesian, the Mistral Mule, or the Patch Island Iced Tea. "I'll get the Patch Island Iced Tea." I decided.

"Excellent choice, so I heard from Oobleck that your Semblance came from somebody named Alex Mercer. Who is that?" Qrow prodded.

Something wasn't right, did Qrow bring me here to question me? Before I could ask him that, our drinks arrived. I decided to wait on confronting him about it, "Well, it's not a Semblance. It's a chimeric virus that did this to me."

"So, you're not actually from Remnant, are you?"

I took a drink from my iced tea, "No, so I want to know something."

Qrow shrugged, but didn't say anything.

"What are these dark monsters that plague your planet?" I asked.

"They're the Creatures of Grimm." Qrow responded.

"And you haven't wiped them out? And another thing, are you trying to get me drunk to get information?"

"Well, to answer your first question; it's not that easy. We've tried for years, but we can't get to the source of the problem. As for your second question; no. But if you're not from Remnant, then you don't have any money to pay for that. So, maybe if you answer a few more questions for me, I'll pay for your drink."

I sighed, I was hoping to keep it a secret, but I didn't have much of a choice. "Okay, what else do you need to know?" I grudgingly said.

"You said it's a virus, so is it contagious?" Qrow asked.

I shook my head.

"Good. So why here?" Qrow kept prodding.

"That's what I don't know, Qrow. But it's nice to get out."

We were interrupted by what sounded like Qrow's cell phone going off. "What is it now? Yeah, he's here, why? Alright! Jeez…" Qrow said to whoever was on the phone before he hung up.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"That was Ozpin, he wants to talk to you."

I sighed, that was the man who basically threatened me. And he wants to talk to me?

Qrow somehow caught on to my thought, "Yeah, I know how you feel. Well, we better not keep Oz waiting."

I grudgingly got up and Qrow and I went back to Beacon.

 **I'm well aware that this chapter is wayyyyyy late. And I'm sorry, but good news is I finally got a job! What sucks is it's not even remotely close to what I trained for. Plus I was going to college. So that's why the delay. Sorry about that!**


	7. Chapter 6: The White Fang?

**Chapter 6: The White Fang?**

 **Ozpin's Office, Beacon, Vale, Remnant**

 **Eight Hours After the Arrival of The Hybrid**

"So, that's the gist of it, Ozpin." Oobleck said, laying out everything that The Hybrid told him to Ozpin and Glynda. As much as he was surprised by what he was told, Oobleck was still fascinated by this new being. So many questions, so little time.

"Wait just one minute, Oobleck! None of that can possibly be true! What if it's lying to us to cover its own tracks?" Glynda asked.

"I will address that when Qrow and The Hybrid return. Hopefully, Qrow has more information." Ozpin replied, trying to stop Glynda from fretting too much.

"But, Professor, if it isn't one of Merlot's twisted experiments, then what is it?"

Ozpin pushed up his glasses, "We'll find out. Until then, I want it under strict surveillance."

Glynda crossed her arms in frustration, "I still can't believe that you let Qrow run off with it."

The three of them were cut off by the elevator opening.

* * *

 **Beacon Elevator, Beacon, Vale**

 **Eight Hours After My Arrival**

I was greeted to the cold stares of the two men who were interrogating me earlier, and a hot, older, blonde woman. I couldn't help but stare at her, she had a perfect figure, and her rack was impressive. Qrow and I stepped out of the elevator, and Qrow approached the trio while I stood back.

"There, I brought him here. Happy?" Qrow smugly replied.

"Show some respect, Mister Branwen!" Glynda scolded.

"I'd show you a great night, Goodwitch, but I bet Oz here already does!"

Ozpin stood up, "Enough! Qrow, you shouldn't have run off without telling me. Hybrid, stop hiding in the back and get over here."

I approached the desk, "I told that Oobleck guy pretty much everything, so what the hell else could you possibly want?" I said, angry at Ozpin's refusal to even listen to anything I said to them earlier. If he wouldn't listen to what I told Ozpin, then odds are nothing I ever said to him would change his mind.

"That's not why I wanted you brought here, and as much as I find your story bizarre, I will get to the bottom of it. Anyways, I have a bit of a job for you." Ozpin replied.

"A job?" I asked, puzzled. I was a little skeptical about this job, mainly because I was thinking it was an attempt by Ozpin to see my true agenda. "What do you mean?" I continued.

"You and another person are going to an area overrun with Grimm and clear it out."

I shrugged, some of these Grimm were a lot like the Infected monsters Mercer and I fought back in Manhattan. So, this should be a breeze. But, something wasn't right. "Wait, who's this other person?" I asked.

A door opened to my right and I turned to see, a familiar blonde girl stepped out. "Hey, you!" Yang said to me. It was her? I shifted uneasily, _Really? Her? Fuck…_ I thought to myself. Yang was already acting weird around me, but maybe I was overreacting. If she was acting like she was interested in me, I'd have to put a stop to that. Not that I didn't find her pretty, because she was. But, it was primarily because even despite Samantha Taylor leaving me in the dark, I still had strong feelings for her.

"Yeah, how are you?" I asked her, turning back to look at the group. "So, where are we going?" I continued.

Oobleck pulled out a map, pointing to an area south of the town. "Here, the Grimm are a little too close to our city. You two are going to wipe them out. But, be careful! There's also bandits and other degenerates to worry about! Nevertheless, you'll be fine!" He said, taking a drink out of his Thermos.

"You two will take an Airship out to the Emerald Forest, complete your mission, and then report back to Beacon. Any questions?" Glynda asked.

Qrow tapped Yang on the shoulder, "Be careful, kiddo." He said.

Yang brushed him off, "Don't worry, Uncle Qrow, I can take care of it!"

"Let's just get this over with." I dismissively replied, staring at Glynda.

I felt someone grab my arm, "Come on, Shepard! Let's go!" Yang shouted, eagerly dragging me with her.

We went down to the courtyard where the Airship was already waiting for us.

"So where are we going?" I asked as we walked in the Airship.

Yang looked up from her cell phone, "Some area south of Vale, should take a few hours to get there."

I shrugged, stretched, and laid down. It was an exhausting day, so I found it easy to fall asleep.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

"Hey! Wake up, sleepyhead!" Yang said to me, shaking me awake violently.

I opened my eyes and sat up in the Airship, stretching and standing up. "We here already?" I asked.

"Yeah! You slept through most of it!"

I ignored her and yawned, it almost seemed like a dream. But, of course, it was still here when I woke up. Regardless, I'll take these monsters over Blackwatch any day. The doors on the side opened, revealing dense forests and tall trees. "Let's get this over with." I said to myself before leaping out of the ship.

The Airship took off, leaving Yang and I alone in the woods. It was eerily quiet, aside from the howls of those Grimm monsters. "So, you caused quite a stir when we found you." She said to me as we walked through the forest.

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious.

"I mean we all saw that spectacle you put on in the courtyard. Plus, our whole team got in a huge argument over you, Weiss wasn't happy at all. And Blake snuck out, too."

"Was Blake the one with the bow in her hair?" I asked, I remembered seeing a woman with them that had one, but wasn't sure if that was her as that woman didn't say anything to me or anyone else.

"Yep! She's kinda quiet, so don't take it personally."

"I'll be sure not to-"

I was cut off by two of those Werewolf Grimm, immediately switching to my Whipfist, I flung it at the beast, puncturing through its neck and wrapping around. I used my strength to rip the head of the Werewolf clean off, the headless beast collapsed to the floor in a heap, evaporating into smoke. The other one charged for Yang, howling with rage at the loss of the other creature. Yang leapt into the air, dodging the monster's attacks and firing at the beast with her weapons.

Her weapons appeared to fire some sort of buckshot, and they were mounted on her fists? I was too focused on her weapons and was struck in the back by a third Grimm. The beast tore my jacket off and took a small chunk out of my back. Reeling forward from the strike, I turned around and punched the beast square in the mouth. The Grimm flew back a good twenty feet, and I formed my blade. Leaping high into the air, I came down on the monster, embedding my blade in its skull.

"Oh my god! Are you alright?" I heard Yang shout.

"Yeah, I'm good." I replied, holding my hand on my wound as she came rushing over.

Yang had a look of shock on her face as she moved my hand aside, watching in surprise as the flesh started to repair itself and regenerate. "What? But how? That's cool!" she exclaimed. Soon enough the wound was gone and my clothing grew back.

"Okay, what's next?" I asked, unhindered by my injury.

"Well, I was wondering about you. So, you've never seen these Grimm before?" Yang asked.

"Not really, but they're easy to kill."

We walked through the forest for a good forty-five minutes. It was a dark, cool night, and the moon shined above us. As I looked at their moon, it was much closer to their planet than our moon was to our planet. And it appeared to have been hit by a meteor, as it was broken. But, did a meteor cause that? I'd have to ask someone who knew when I got back to Beacon. A light breeze blew past the two of us, and with that breeze, I heard something.

My enhanced senses picked up what sounded like a camp full of people, so I walked in their direction. It only took a little while to get to their camp, I looked over them and eyed a few people. What was odd about these people was that they had some sort of animal trait to them. I saw a flag, it had a red panther head with claw marks behind it. I turned to Yang, "What did we stumble upon?" I asked her.

No answer, I turned to look at her, and Yang had a look of surprise on her face. I tapped her shoulder, "Yang, what did we find?" I asked her again.

"The White Fang…" She said, but I got the feeling she was talking to herself.

"What? Who are they?"

"They're an extremist Faunus Rights group, fighting for equality for all Faunus by committing violence."

A simple explanation, but it got the message across. "So, they're terrorists?" I questioned.

"Sort of, but Blake wouldn't call them that." Yang replied.

"I'll ask her later. In the meantime, I'm destroying their little camp." I said, leaping into the air. If these people were terrorists like Yang said, then maybe wiping them out would be a gesture of good faith.

"Shepard, wait!" Yang shouted.

I landed on the ground and darted towards their camp.

 **A couple things for the late chapter: Pneumonia (The main one), Destiny 2, Metroid: Samus Returns, and Work. So, I apologize for that, but I'm feeling better now. Ending on a cliffhanger isn't something I enjoy doing, because of the reasons why people don't like cliffhangers. But, good to be back, and in good health too! Thanks for being patient!**


	8. Chapter 7: Rip And Tear!

**Pentagon, West Virginia, United States, Earth**

 **January 18, 2018**

"Sir! The Japanese Military is holding that alien meteor at a military base twenty-three miles north of Kyoto!" Sergeant Etheridge said, the hunt was done. Despite it only being a couple days, the Meteor was already in the custody of the Japanese Government. Granted, scientists the world over came to view it, but nobody was getting it out.

Douglas Rooks was struck with a dilemma: The United States Department of Defense refused his request to take custody of the cosmic object, so there was nothing he could've done. Unless, he defied the DOD. But that would have profound consequences. Thinking back to a couple years ago, when he and his younger brother were celebrating his promotion to Colonel. Grief filled his heart, clouding his judgement and igniting a fury he hasn't felt since he discovered James Heller was impersonating his second in command: Lieutenant Clint Riley. And Rooks would say the words that would forever change the course of Blackwatch: "Let's go get that mother fucker!" Rooks ordered.

Silence fell over the room, and everyone turned to look at what Rooks just ordered, but only one had the courage to speak up. "But, sir, the U.S. barred us from operating!" Jon Etheridge replied. If the Colonel was serious about this order, it would mean going to war against the United States and her allies. Blackwatch would be branded a rogue terrorist organization, stripped of their diplomatic immunity, and hunted with extreme prejudice.

"THOR thinks he can use that to hide from us?! And the United States isn't willing to do what needs to be done! So, we take matters into our own hands! I want the USS Roosevelt spun up by the day's end! Pack your things, men! We're tracking that slippery son of a bitch down and destroying him once and for all!" Rooks shouted.

* * *

 **White Fang Camp, Somewhere outside Vale, Remnant**

 **Twelve Hours After My Arrival**

The camp wasn't too far away now, as I quickly closed the distance. Judging from their reaction, they must've seen me, not sure how these "Faunus" saw me already as it was dark. Only some lamps dotted their outpost. When I arrived, six armed men were waiting for me. Only one of them looked different from the white clothed, mask wearing soldiers that waited for me. This man had spiked red hair, small black horns, and his mask only covered his eyes. He wore a black outfit, and held a katana.

"A Human? Here?! How did you find us?" He demanded, clenching his weapon tightly. Meanwhile, the other men with him drew their weapons.

"Heard the commotion, came running. I heard a lot about you guys; you're terrorists."

The man didn't seem to mind being labeled as such, instead he pulled out his katana, and pointed it at me. "Kill him!" He ordered.

The men charged at me, one of them getting close enough to swing his blade. In a blur, I grabbed his arm, a loud crack echoed around us, followed by him screaming in agony. With little effort, I removed his arm from his socket and smashed him in the face with it, caving his skull in. I heard a swoosh sound behind me, and grabbed the second soldier's blade with my hand, snapping it in two with my fingers. I grabbed the shard of the blade and threw it at a third guy, the blade shard going through his eye socket. Forming my blade, I spun around, decapitating the soldier with the now broken blade. Another soldier swung his blade and I blocked his strike, raising my blade into the air and brought it down, cutting through his chest. Blood sprayed everywhere, spraying my jacket with the warm, red substance. Four of them dead in a matter of seconds, the last remaining soldier realized this and tried to run away. I switched to my Whipfist and impaled him through the chest, killing him instantly.

"They're dead, you're next." I said to the red-haired man darkly, switching back to my blade.

The man readied his katana and held it in front of him, "If you want something done properly…" he growled.

The man lunged at me in a blur, swinging his blade in front of me. I ducked slightly, barely dodging his strike. He swung again, slashing me across the chest. I recoiled and when he swung a third time, I grabbed his arm and headbutted him. I swung at him in retaliation, but what should've been a blow strong enough to gut him instead didn't leave a mark on him. What was most bizarre was my blade seemed to hit some sort of resistance, and it wasn't his clothing. Almost as if there was some sort of barrier protecting him. The red-haired man and I launched into a flurry of blows, sparks flying everywhere.

Suddenly, an explosion, and a Grimm out of nowhere. The monster appeared in between us, allowing the man to escape. Turning towards me, the beast let out a deafening roar. As I stared at the monster, it looked like a giant grizzly bear. I ran toward the hulking Grimm monster with my blade, leaping into the air to strike at it. No good, the beast swatted me aside like I was nothing more than an insect annoying it.

I was flung back and I crashed into a wall, falling to the ground. _Okay… new strategy._ I thought to myself as I slowly got back up, wiping the blood from my mouth.

"There you are! I was worried sick about you!" A familiar voice said behind me. I turned around to see that Yang caught up with me.

"And here I thought you were gonna let me have all the fun." I smugly replied. The smell of smoke filled the air, and screams of Faunus people trying to put out the flames and not get mauled by the Grimm monsters.

"An Ursa? Okay, Shepard, follow my lead!"

Yang opened fire on the Ursa, and I switched to my Hammerfist, ramming the beast in the chest with them. The Ursa was strong, but slow, so dodging its second attack was much easier. I launched into an uppercut and clocked the Ursa square in the jaw, the beast falling over and I leapt onto the monster and smashed its face in.

I fell off the beast and slowly got back up, taking heavy breaths. "Phew! That was a tough son of a bitch!" I said, wiping sweat off my face.

"Yep! Ursas can be a real-" Yang was about to say, when an explosion cut us off. A pile of rubble landed on me, and my ears were ringing.

I pried the rubble off me and got up slowly, "Yang? Where are you?" I shouted.

I heard a scream and ran toward the source, finding Yang buried under some debris. "You okay?" I asked.

Yang winced and looked up at me, "My leg! Help me out!" She ordered, I looked at her leg and saw she had a piece of shrapnel that punctured through her leg, only a few inches above her ankle and she was bleeding badly.

"Alright! I'll get you out!" I replied as I threw the rubble that covered her aside. One of the dead White Fang soldiers laid next to us and I grabbed his uniform, tearing it into strips. "Okay, hang on!" I said as I ripped the chunk of shrapnel out of leg, causing her to scream in pain. I fashioned the ripped clothing into bandages and tied one around her leg, stopping the bleeding.

"I don't think I can walk!" She shouted. I had no choice but to pick her up, we had to get out of here. If the Grimm monsters weren't here yet, they would be soon. And I had to get us out before that happened.

I hoisted Yang over my shoulder and started to run out of the camp, the sounds dying out as we got further away. The Grimm would eat well tonight. Whoever that red-haired man was, hopefully he was dead.

* * *

 **A Few Hours Later…**

"Shepard, set me down!" Yang ordered.

"Are we almost out of here yet?" I asked. "Surely you can use that cell phone and call for help." I continued.

"It's a Scroll, and we have to find a clearing. Now set me down!"

I walked us over to a tree and set Yang down, tossing aside the bloodied bandage, seeing that her leg was already healing quickly. "Wow, you have a healing factor too?" I asked.

"No, that's my Aura." Yang replied.

"Your what?" I asked, puzzled.

"Aura, it's a manifestation of one's soul, that protects me from harm."

I scratched my head, "Weird. Anyways, call the evac. We gotta get out of here."

Yang pushed some buttons on her cell phone and put it away, "Okay, evac will be here in ten minutes. We have to get a little further north."

I picked Yang up again and set out, by the time we got to the evacuation site, the airship was already waiting for us. The back hatch opened and I set Yang down on a seat and sat down across from her. A few minutes later, the airship took off.

* * *

 **One Hour Later**

 **Back At Beacon**

I walked with Yang back to her dorm room, relieved to be back at this school. It wasn't home, but it was a relief. After finally getting to her dorm room, I started to walk away, "Well, that was a crazy night." I commented.

"Yeah, it was, thanks for the help. But uhh… you know, Shepard, you want to uhh… stay here with me tonight?"

I shrugged, "Nah, I don't want to be a burden, Yang. I'll see if Qrow has a couch I can crash on."

Yang looked somewhat disappointed, "Oh, okay… I'll see you tomorrow." She said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Night." I said as I walked away.

* * *

Yang watched as Shepard walked away, somewhat disappointed that he didn't take her up on her offer. Sighing sadly, she opened the door to her team's bedroom and was about to walk inside.

"What was that about?" Someone asked, causing Yang to jolt in surprise.

"Oh, hi, Pyrrha." Yang replied.

Pyrrha quietly closed the door to their dorm room and walked over, "Glad to see you two return safely, how'd it go?"

"It was a mess, but we made it."

Turning around to make sure the coast was clear, Pyrrha looked back at Yang, "Were you trying to get him to stay with you?"

Yang's bright red cheeks gave Pyrrha the answer she needed, "N-no, why?" Yang asked, desperately trying to hide her flushed complexion.

"It's okay, your secret is safe with me. You should try to win him over, Yang."

Yang looked down, wiping a tear from her face. "Okay, Pyrrha, I will."

* * *

 **Qrow's Dorm Room, Beacon**

I finally arrived at Qrow's dorm room and knocked on the door, "Oh, you two made it. How's it going?" Qrow asked.

"We're alive, but do you have a couch I can crash on?" I replied.

"Sure, come on in. Want a drink?"

I perked up after being asked that, "Hell yes, I'll take a few."

Qrow laughed and reached into the fridge, handing me a glass, "Got a minibar over here, so set yourself up." He commented.

I made myself a drink and sank into the couch, exhausted from the day's events.

 **Honestly I had a few different thoughts on how to write this chapter, causing me to get the dreaded Writer's Block several times. Here's what I cam up with, hopefully it's not too bad. But that's the delay this time. It's hard to stick to a schedule, especially with me working five days a week. Anyways, thanks for sticking around! -Grave**


	9. Chapter 8: Consequences? Yeah right

**Team RWBY Dorm, Beacon**

 **One Day After My Arrival**

Yang shot up from her bed, sweat dripping down her forehead. Much to her surprise, the rest of the team was already up. Ruby was the first to see and ran over to her older sister. "Yang! Glad you're back! How was it for you two?" Ruby asked.

Sighing, Yang got up off her bed, taking a moment to examine her injury from last night. Fortunately, it was healing nicely. "Guys…" Yang hesitantly said.

Blake looked up from her book and Weiss looked up from her homework, neither of them saying anything.

"Sh-Shepard's a killer." Yang continued.

Everyone dropped what they were doing immediately and ran over to Yang's bed. But Weiss was the first to speak up, "I knew it! I knew he wasn't human!" She spat.

"Who did he kill?" Blake asked.

"He blew up a White Fang camp, Blake!" Yang responded.

Blake was taken aback by those words, even despite her leaving the White Fang years ago, she still sympathized with their struggle to some extent. "Where is he?" Blake questioned, determined to get an answer.

Yang pointed to the right, "He's staying with my Uncle Qrow, his room is down the hall."

Blake said nothing else and left, slamming the door behind her. "What do we do now?" Ruby asked, turning to face the other two.

Weiss stood up, and walked over to the door, "We're going straight to Ozpin!" She demanded.

Ruby and Yang said nothing and got dressed.

* * *

 **Qrow's Dorm Room, Beacon**

 **One Day After My Arrival**

I slowly opened my eyes, the bright sunlight blinding me slightly. Still feeling a little bit of a buzz from last night, I sat up. As I looked around, I saw a box on the counter with what seemed to be a note on it. Qrow's room was abandoned, so he must already be up and about, so I walked over to the closet and grabbed a towel. Since I was staying here for the time being, I decided the next thing on my agenda was a hot shower.

As I walked by, I noticed the box as well as the note on it. I grabbed the note.

 _Hey Shepard,_

 _I took the liberty of talking to Ozpin and he decided it was best for you to have your own Scroll. You'll find it in the box, with a small list of how to operate it. I also pre-programmed it to have the numbers of Ruby and them. I am also talking to Oz about you getting your own place to stay. I got some stuff to do, but afterwards we can go for drinks._

 _-Q._

 _P.S. Try not to drink the rest of my liquor._

I crumpled up the note and tore open the box and found the device in question, a quick button press caused the Scroll to light up. These Scrolls function very similar to cell phones. But since my iPhone doesn't get service on a planet potentially hundreds, if not thousands of light-years away from earth; I was shit out of luck getting a signal. Deciding to mess with it later, I put the Scroll in my jacket pocket and grabbed my towel. Things were hectic around here, but I was glad to have some downtime. The only thing I was missing the most was my Xbox, I missed playing Battlefield.

A loud banging on the door interrupted my routine, so I set my stuff down and answered the door. A dark-haired woman with a bow in her hair scowled at me. "Blake, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, and I have a bone to pick with you!" She replied, narrowing her amber eyes.

"Oh boy, what is it?"

Blake stormed past me, slamming the door behind her. Clearly, she was angry about something, what it was; I had no idea.

"Wait, is it about that stupid camp I destroyed?" I questioned, I remembered Yang saying something about Blake and the White Fang the night before. Something along the lines of Blake possibly having past ties with them, or at the very least, sympathized with their struggle to some extent.

"Yes, it is! You slaughtered them?! Why?!" Blake demanded.

I crossed my arms, "Because they started it, and they're terrorists."

"No, they're not! You could've spared them!"

"It was them, or us, Blake."

"THAT'S your reasoning?! This won't end well! More Faunus are going to flock to them once they hear about this!"

"And they'll die like the rest of that filth!" I shouted, clenching my fist.

That statement made Blake explode with fury, "FILTH?! We're not filth! How can you even say that?! You want to know why we resorted to violence? Because nothing else worked!"

"I don't give a shit! They sign up with the White Fang, they forfeit their lives! They're nothing but fucking terrorists!"

In a surprising turn of events, Blake grabbed the bow in her hair and ripped it off, "Do THESE make me a terrorist?!" She shouted, pointing to the top of her head.

Small, black cat ears. That's what I saw, and I couldn't believe my eyes. "Y-you're a cat girl? Holy shit! That's so cute! I wanna touch them!" I squeaked, unable to contain my inner Weeaboo any longer.

Blake's eyes widened with surprise and confusion, "Wha-? No!" she shouted, grabbing my collar. "I'm warning you, this will have serious problems!"

I ripped Blake's hand off my shirt and tightly gripped her wrist, "Tell me, kitty cat, why are you so sympathetic towards the White Fang?" I demanded.

"Don't call me that!" Blake shouted, pulling away from my grip.

"Then tell me. Either on your own, or I pry the answer from your head."

Blake took a few steps back, "Is that a threat? Because you won't like what happens."

"And why's that?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I've killed a man with my bare hands, Shepard." She angrily replied.

"And? I've killed tons of people with my bare hands."

The surprised look on Blake's face told me that I must've hit a nerve. "Y-you're just like A-Adam!" Blake shakily responded, slowly backing away from me. I decided not to say anything. Who was this Adam she was comparing me to? "You're basically a human version of him!" She continued.

I took a few steps toward the angry Faunus girl, "Hang on, who's Adam?" I asked, determined to get an answer.

Blake scowled at me before running off, leaving me confused. "What the hell?" I asked myself. Not far from behind her, Qrow walked in a few seconds later.

"The hell was that about?" Qrow asked.

I shrugged and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

* * *

 **Twenty Minutes Later…**

I came out of the bathroom door, steam following behind me. Nothing like a hot shower to wash the smell of dead people off my body. A quick thought, and biomass formed into clothes over my body. Out of habit, I grabbed my cell phone. Nothing. No service, no text message, no email. Just a blank view on my Metroid wallpaper. "Damn, that's right." I said to myself, reaching for the new Scroll. A new text message from Ozpin:

 _Mr. Shepard, we must speak at once. Head to my office immediately._

"Well shit." I said to myself, what in the fuck does he want? I sighed, pocketed both my cell phone and the Scroll, and left the room.

* * *

 **New Haven, Connecticut, United States, Earth**

 **January 19, 2018**

John Mason sat with his girlfriend Natalie on the couch, watching _Game of Thrones_. As much as he wanted to worry about his best friend; there wasn't a point. Regardless, watching TV on his day off from work was always therapeutic. A knock on the door interrupted their bingeing, "I'll get it." He said as he approached the door and opened it.

"Are you John Mason?" The man in black Kevlar Body Armor asked.

John was surprised, there were three men at his door. Two of them wielding M416's and decked head-to-toe in Kevlar. "Yeah, who are you?" John asked.

"Agent Matthew Krieger, CIA. You and Miss Saunders need to come with us on a matter of National Security." Matthew replied, pulling out his CIA badge.

Those words hit John like a dump truck. The CIA? Here? "What's it about?" John demanded.

"Brandon Shepard." The CIA Agent replied.

"Natalie, get your things. We gotta go." John said.

Natalie stood up and looked over at them in shock, "But what about-"

"Miss Saunders, we don't have time. I'll fill you two in on the drive. But we need to go **now**."The CIA Agent demanded.

The couple quickly grabbed their things and got in the Humvee.

* * *

 **Ozpin's Office, Beacon**

 **One Day After My Arrival**

I sighed and walked into Ozpin's office, frustrated as to why he wanted to talk to me so urgently. "You wanted to see me?" I asked, opening the door to his office.

Ozpin sat at his desk with a cup of coffee sitting right next to him, "Sit." He urged.

I said nothing in response, and sat down. The two of us sat in silence for a few moments, but Oz finally spoke up.

"So, how'd the mission I sent you on go?" He asked.

"Went well, no complaints." I replied, shrugging.

"I know what happened, Mister Shepard."

So that's what he dragged me here for? I threw my hands up in frustration, "Then why didn't you just say so?" I complained.

"Mister Shepard, what on Remnant gave you the idea that blowing up a White Fang camp was a clever idea?"

"They started it, I finished it."

"You could've captured them, and we could've interrogated them for information on their plans."

"Yeah, cause they would've just told you everything." I sarcastically remarked.

Ozpin took his glasses off and rested his forehead on his hand, "You clearly have no respect for the sanctity of life. The White Fang will hear of this, and the cycle of revenge will start all over again."

"And I'll crush them under my heel." I grimly replied.

"Is this how terrorists are handled on your world?" Ozpin asked.

"Yep, we don't negotiate with them. We blow them the fuck up."

Ozpin's eyes widened in shock, "Look, we're in a time of peace. You can't just go around our world killing everyone who starts problems. I'm a Huntsman and I vowed to protect this world from all who would do it harm. This can include you. Now, I don't want to hear about any more bloodshed."

"Well, I have no regrets about doing that. I'd do it again in a heartbeat." I replied as I sat up and walked out.

 _What the hell? I destroy a group of terrorists and instead of getting commended for it, I get chastised for it? The fuck?_ I thought to myself, as I walked out.

"Oh, there you are, dude!" A man said to me.

I turned around to see Jaune waving, "Jaune? What is it?" I asked.

"We were gonna train, wanna join us?"

"Hell yes." I replied, itching for a chance to let out some steam.

 **So how about that RWBY Episode, huh? Crazy right? I wont spoil, but holy shit I'm on the edge of my seat. Both the episode now on YouTube and the one on the RT Website. Anyways, happy late Christmas and New Year and all that. Here's to 2018! Also, I am going to try my best to be at RTX in Austin later this year. If anyone has an idea as to when tickets go up for sale and how much they go for, message me please. I'd greatly appreciate it. Always wanted to go to RTX.**


	10. Chapter 9: The Untouchable Nikos

**Courtyard, Beacon, Remnant**

 **One Day After My Arrival**

I was furious. Ozpin chastised me for killing a bunch of terrorists? It started to become clear to me that the humans on this planet are somewhat backwards in their thinking. Still, the only regret I had with wiping that scum out was I didn't consume them. I would've learned a ton of useful information; but it was a risk I couldn't afford taking. If Yang saw me kill and consume those White Fang soldiers, she would've freaked out and told everyone about it. Putting me in a much worse situation than when I first arrived. That is one tidbit about the Mercer Virus I wish to keep secret for as long as I can.

 _If I plan on combatting the White Fang on my own terms, I'll have to sneak into town and see what I can learn._ I thought to myself. Regardless of Ozpin's disdain for my lack of emotion for spilling blood, I decided the best course of action was to body snatch some poor Faunus and see what he or she knows about the White Fang, or about that red-haired man that I clashed with.

I was so focused on my thoughts that I didn't even notice where Jaune and I were. After walking in silence for some time, Jaune finally spoke up, "Pyrrha and I wanted to see you in action for ourselves. So, we're heading to the training room!" Jaune said.

Training? As in combat? I grinned, "Good, I could use the stress relief." I replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure, man. My girl can kick anyone's ass!"

I decided to not say anything in response, but if this Pyrrha moved like that man from last night, then this would be interesting to say the least. But, it didn't take long for Jaune and I to arrive in a large stadium room. In the middle of the room was a man and a woman fighting. The man wore a green shirt and had jet black hair tied into a ponytail, and he held two Glock like handguns with extended magazines and weird looking blades on the end. The girl, on the other hand, had orange hair and wielded a giant hammer. Sitting on the sidelines, Pyrrha observed and took notes.

Pyrrha turned towards Jaune and I and smiled, waving at the other two for them to stop, "Okay, you two. They're here!" She said.

"Finally! Ren was giving me quite the workout!" The orange-haired girl shouted, her weapon shifting into a compact version, and with one fluid motion, she buckled it behind her.

 _Their weapons are intricate, more so than ours. I wonder what material they're forged from. I'll have to get my hands on one._ I thought to myself.

"You insisted that I go all-out, Nora." The dark-haired man replied, apparently named Ren.

"Well, I'm gonna give you quite a workout later tonight in the bedro-"

"Nora!"

Jaune stepped in front of me and gestured to the two, "Don't worry about that, meet the other two members of our team: Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. But he prefers Ren." He commented.

"Right, how's it going? Nice guns, Ren. Are they Glocks?" I asked.

A puzzled look came over Ren's face, "No? I made them myself." He replied, pulling them out and spinning them in his hands.

"We all made our own weapons! But mine is the best, it's a hammer!" Nora shouted, pulling out her hammer. It was a giant weapon, taller than Nora even. One swing from it, and whoever was on the receiving end was getting their head crushed to a pulp.

"Holy shit, do you knock down houses with that?" I asked.

"I could! I've done it before!"

I don't know if Nora was telling the truth. If she was, I'd probably believe her.

"Nice work, you two. Jaune and I are going to see what Shepard here knows about combat." Pyrrha said, walking into the arena.

"Wait, so it's a two on one?" I asked. I held my own against that red-haired man yesterday, so I could take these two.

"Sorry man, but she insisted." Jaune responded.

I shrugged and walked into the center of the arena, "Works for me, I've faced worse odds."

Meanwhile, Nora and Ren took a seat on the sidelines, with Nora grinning like a psychopath. "This is gonna be so awesome!" Nora squeaked.

Pyrrha unfolded her weapon, she had a spear with a round shield. Just watching her weapon transform was slightly mesmerizing on its own. Meanwhile, Jaune had a simple sword and shield. But his shield extended to its full length as he unsheathed his sword.

"So, I'll try to take it easy on you two." I smugly replied.

A twirl from Pyrrha's wrist and she spun her weapon in her hand, "Careful, Shepard. Your overconfidence might be your weakness." Pyrrha said.

Without any thought, I put on my best Emperor Palpatine voice again and responded with, "Your faith in your friends is yours."

The two of them looked at each other before turning their gazes to me, "What was that about?" Jaune asked.

"Nothing! Just a joke!" I remarked, nervously laughing.

"Okay! You two ready?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune held his thumb up in the air, "Hell yeah, babe!" he exclaimed, brandishing his sword and shield in my direction.

I formed my Blade and dragged it across the ground, leaving a trail and a shower of sparks as I did so. "Bring it on!" I shouted.

"Listen up, here's the rules: The arena is the only space you get, fall out of bounds and you're out. Also, if your Aura runs out then you're out as well. Nora and I will monitor that. Now, fight!" Ren shouted, and in a blur, I lunged for the couple, deciding to go for Jaune first. Jaune raised his shield and my blade smashed into it. My arm vibrated as I pulled back, sending slight shockwaves through my body. When I took a quick glance at his shield, there wasn't even a scratch on it. I heard something behind me and ducked just in time to dodge Pyrrha trying to stab me with her spear. I grabbed her spear and brought my blade arm down, but Pyrrha brought up her shield and deflected my strike.

Something was off, I felt something invisible push back against my arm before Pyrrha blocked my blade, like there was an invisible hand holding it back. She took full advantage of my stagger and flung her shield at me. Thanks to my superhuman reflexes, I smacked her shield with my wrist, causing it to crash into the wall and becoming stuck there. I turned just in time to see Pyrrha launch herself off Jaune's shield and leap into the air, she came crashing down nearly landing on me. I was knocked on my ass as the shockwave hit me.

 _These two make quite the duo, but Jaune is a much easier target. I need to take him out and fast. Pyrrha is a problem on her own!_ I thought to myself as I jumped over Pyrrha's attack. The girl was quick, almost as quick as I am. I shifted my biomass from my Blade to my muscles, leapt into the air and rammed my fist into his shield. Jaune staggered back and swung his sword at me, the blade digging into my shoulder as I recoil slightly. Blood flows from my wound for a few seconds before the wound closes itself.

Jaune takes another swing at me and I duck, the sound of his blade cutting through the air being heard. I quickly grab the hilt of his blade and rip it out of his hands, tossing it aside and out of his reach as I bring my fists up and hit him in the side before bringing my other fist to his chest and knocking him out of the arena. Jaune bounced on the ground a couple times before he landed on his back with a loud thud, sitting up to dust himself off in defeat.

"You're out Jauney boy!" Nora shouted.

One down, one to go. But this one was the real problem, fortunately for me, Pyrrha's shield was outside the bounds of the arena. "You and me now, Pyrrha." I smugly added.

"I'm not going down without a fight." Pyrrha responded, extending her arm to her left. I looked in the same direction and she was reaching for her shield. I was about to say something when her shield started to move.

 _Is she Force grabbing her shield? Holy shit, she's a Jedi!_ I thought to myself, paralyzed by amazement as Pyrrha's shield comes flying out of the wall and into her hand. With her shield in hand, Pyrrha charged at me, spear raised. I formed my Blade again and leapt into the air, bringing my blade down.

I hit the ground with enough force to cause the concrete to crack, but Pyrrha was gone. I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see Pyrrha mere inches from me. A streak of gold and red and I lunged back to dodge her spear. Pyrrha's spear suddenly started to change shape, I didn't know what it was turning into, but I had to stop her. I swung my blade horizontally in front of me, trying to hit her. More invisible resistance against my arm as Pyrrha did a backflip into the air and dodged my attack completely.

Grabbing her spear, Pyrrha pointed it at me, firing a shot and hitting me square into the chest before hitting the ground. I recoiled as the bullet went through my chest and out the back. Suddenly I felt boots digging into my chest as Pyrrha kicked off from me, spinning in the air. I looked back at her and saw her shield flying towards me, but it was too late to react. Her shield hit me square in the chest, knocking me off balance and back a few feet. I quickly sprung up and back on my feet, but something was wrong. I was outside the arena! The realization hit me seconds later: I lost. All that training with Mercer wasn't nearly enough for me to hold my own against these people.

"Holy shit that was amazing!" Nora shouted, jumping up and down in her seat.

"Impressive fight, you three." Ren commented, clapping his hands.

Pyrrha sheathed her weapons and walked over to me, "How's **that** for a fight, Shepard?" She asked.

I swallowed my pride and looked at her and Jaune, "Alright alright, I'm smart enough to know when I've lost." I added.

"You did great!" Another voice shouted.

All five of us turned to see the unknown person who entered, sure enough Yang found her way into the room. I felt like she was stalking me.

"Thanks, anyways, I have something private to tend to. I'll see you guys later today." I dismissively replied.

"Where are you going?" Yang asked.

"I'm going into town." I said, walking out of the arena and closing the door behind me. My war against the White Fang was about to heat up, and I wanted to be one step ahead of them.

* * *

 **New Haven, Connecticut, United States, Earth**

 **January 19, 2018**

"Okay, what's this about?" John asked, he and Natalie have already been shoved into the Humvee, and he wanted answers.

"We believe Blackwatch might be up to something, Colonel Rooks has gone AWOL." Agent Krieger said. "If he doesn't give us an update, we'll assume he and Blackwatch have gone rogue."

"So then why did you take us?" Natalie demanded.

"We believe Blackwatch may target you two in order to to get to their target."

"Which is Brandon, isn't it?" John darkly added.

"Correct, we're taking you to Base Hotel Three-Six. Then you two will board a chopper onto-"

An explosion rocked the street, causing Krieger to grab his rifle from the gun rack. "Shit, they found us! Get your heads down!" He shouted.

 **So, I got my Qrow cosplay for RTX already, just waiting on those damn tickets to go up for sale. I also recently played Doki Doki Literature Club. And I really should've addressed the reason I didn't consume those White Fang soldiers in the previous chapter, but I was in a rush to put it out. Mistake on my part. Anyways, if any of you are visiting RTX in Austin this year, come see me and say hi! -Grave**


	11. Chapter 10: Adam Taurus! We meet again!

**USS Obama, Five Miles Off the Coast of Manhattan, United States, Earth**

 **January 17, 2018**

"Listen up! I want Echo Two-Actual, Ballista One-Actual, and Delta Four-Actual front and center!" Rooks ordered. Colonel Douglas Rooks had a plan, primarily it was to buy Blackwatch time to move freely. First order of business was to distract the United States military with a large elite force of Blackwatch soldiers that were to do as much damage to the mainland as possible. While they were busy with that, the rest of them would board the USS Kennedy and high tail it out of US waters. The battalions would need explosives, heavy weapons, and maybe a tank or two.

It only took a few minutes for the soldiers he requested to arrive, "Good. You're all here. I have an important mission for you all." Rooks said. Blank stares came over the soldiers. Almost as if they had an idea what was about to transpire. "You men are some of the best Blackwatch has to offer, and we have a plan in place. We need to distract the U.S. military with a series of strikes on the mainland. You're being deployed to Washington D.C. for this. Also, we've tracked down THOR's friends, John Mason and Natalie Saunders." Rooks continued.

"What's the mission, Sir?" One soldier questioned.

"You're to cause as much damage as possible. And kill them both!"

Silence fell over the room; each soldier knew what Rooks was ordering them to do. But did any of them have the courage to speak up? "S-Sir, we're attacking our own country? Why?" Sergeant Tucker protested.

Rooks turned to the soldier, "Because we're going after THOR! And we need a distraction!"

"Sir, we can't attack our own-"

Sergeant Tucker was about to finish that sentence, but Rooks blew a hole clear through his head with his handgun, brain matter splattering everywhere. Tucker was dead before he hit the cold floor of the aircraft carrier. "No further questions!" Rooks demanded. "Now get your asses on the helicopter!"

* * *

 **Vale, Remnant**

 **One Day After My Arrival**

After the fight with Pyrrha was over, I left the arena. My best bet was to be as far away from Beacon before people realized I was gone. "Gotta get down into the city." I said to myself. A few short minutes and I was already passing by the fountain. I hurried past and tried to make it to the cliffside, with my intention to glide into the city and find the White Fang. I will continue this shadow war against them. _This time I need to get information._ I thought to myself.

"Ah! Mister Shepard! A moment of your time if you don't mind." An older sounding man shouted behind me.

I turned around to see an old man with a white mustache and white hair, waving to me as he walked closer. "Um, who are you?" I asked.

The man stroked his mustache, "Professor Peter Port, my good man! I wanted to extend an offer to you. Now I understand you are a busy man, but I promise this won't take too much time." Port confidently replied.

"An offer? Offer for what?"

"Why, to teach you Grimm hunting! I figured since Professor Ozpin is keeping you here, and you have that deer in headlights look about you, I could teach you the distinct types of the Creatures of Grimm and how to kill them!"

I wasn't about to stop what I was doing at this particular moment, but I wasn't going to turn down the help. "Look, Port, I kinda have something planned right now. Any chance I can come by tomorrow?" I stubbornly questioned.

Port clapped his hands together in exclamation, "Splendid! Come by after class tomorrow morning! I promise you won't regret it!"

Professor Port walked away, leaving me somewhat alone. I walked over to the edge, leapt off the cliffside and glided to the city below. This city was incredible, from up here I could see everything. Coffee shops, restaurants, a book store, and a plethora of other businesses. But I had a mission, I had to find where the White Fang were meeting. Odds are I would have a much easier time on ground level searching for them. I turned and glided towards the book store, intent on landing on the roof and moving to the street. I dropped from the glide and hit the roof running. So many places to check, so little time. Where to begin?

I jumped off the book store, which was called Tuxton's Book Trade, and hit the ground. Across the street was a small café where I overheard multiple conversations from several people. One particular conversation between a blonde man with a large monkey tail, and another man with bright blue hair and goggles caught my attention.

"I'm just saying, Sun. They're in the alley, one block away. We can go kick their butts!" The blue haired man said.

"No way, man! Blake and I tried that with the White Fang before and it didn't work! Besides, they'll probably recognize me." The blonde monkey man responded, holding his coffee cup with his tail.

 _One block over? Better hurry._ I thought to myself. I took a guess and headed to my left, entering an alleyway and scouting around. I heard a door open and I leapt onto the roof to hide. Two men exited a building and began discussing amongst themselves. One man had small deer antlers on his head, the other had a black leopard tail. The leopard Faunus man had darker skin, and jet black hair.

I eyed the two Faunus as they conversed, waiting for them to separate. After fifteen minutes, the Faunus with the deer antlers said something to the leopard Faunus. The two started to separate, with the deer Faunus pulling a cigar out of his shirt and walking away. I slid off the building and hit the ground, causing the leopard Faunus to turn and look at me. "Hands up, human!" he shouted, pulling out a machete.

"Who? Me?" I mockingly asked.

"Shut up!"

I shrugged and stared at the man, "I think I'll keep my hands down, fuck boy."

The Faunus tightened his grip on his blade and brandished it at me, "Here's what's gonna happen, human. You're gonna give me all your Lien, and then I'm gonna beat you to a bloody pulp!"

"I wouldn't try that with that big guy right behind you." I replied.

"Huh?" The Leopard Faunus said before turning around.

I lunged towards him, put one hand over his mouth, and in one fluid motion, I snapped his neck. The light faded from his eyes as I quietly consumed him. Memories flooded my brain, this man was a Faunus named Onyx Fletcher. His mother died of a fever when he was a child, and his father joined the White Fang to support him. Onyx followed in his father's footsteps to try to reconnect with him.

I sifted through more of his memories, finding a plethora of knowledge about the White Fang. Their leader was a woman named Sienna Khan and she resided in a country called Menagerie. But, most importantly, I learned the identity of the man I was looking for. Adam Taurus, he's in charge of the White Fang's operations in Vale. And he's who I ran into yesterday.

A quick thought and I swiftly shapeshifted into Onyx, "Heh, I can't believe that trick worked." I said to myself before heading inside. Apparently, Adam was about to start speaking to the crowd soon. I was right on time. After working my way through the crowd towards the front of them, which is where apparently Onyx was told would be his post, I looked to my left and saw a short girl with long brown hair, and freckles all over her body.

Ilia Amitola. I've never seen her before, but thanks to Onyx's memories, I knew full well who she was. _A chameleon? How is that even remotely possible?_ I thought to myself, having knowledge of that innate ability of hers now. It was a feeling I never could get over. Ilia turned towards me, "You're back. I was about to drag you back inside, Onyx." She said.

"You wouldn't have needed to do that, Ilia. I'd do anything to see the legendary Adam Taurus in person." I replied.

Ilia said nothing in response and I was left to my thoughts about how radically different people are here on this planet, I mean I was standing next to a girl who could change her color to hide herself. Suddenly the song _Karma Chameleon_ by Culture Club started to play in my head. _God damnit…_ I thought to myself.

The lights dimmed, and the crowd fell silent. A few moments passed before the curtains parted slightly, and out stepped Adam Taurus in all his arrogant posturing. He approached the podium, weapon at his side. "My brothers and sisters," He said into the mic. "we have a new threat in our war against the humans." He continued.

People in the crowd started to turn towards each other and whispered quietly amongst themselves. Meanwhile, the screen to his left lit up, and revealed a large picture. The picture showed me leaving the combat arena earlier in the morning after Pyrrha and I had our fight. The screen changed and showed a picture of me in the middle of the courtyard when I was talking to Professor Port.

 _What?!_ I thought, trying to suppress my outburst.

"This man, no… this thing attacked me and my men only several short hours ago. And he slew many of them! Make no mistake, he plans to wipe us out! He thinks Faunus are nothing but scum! When I tried to kill him, he brushed off a stab wound that would've been fatal to anyone else! This monster is able to morph his arms into deadly weaponry, weapons that took the lives of many of our brothers and sisters in cold blood!" Adam shouted, anger spewing from his voice.

"We believe he's working with the hateful, and racist teachers at Beacon Academy! These people would stop at nothing to ensure the Faunus remain beneath them forever! We've sacrificed so much in our fight for equality! And this heartless murderer would destroy everything we've strived and bled to achieve!" Ilia screamed.

"My orders are simple, brothers and sisters, find this murderer! Whatever you find out, bring it to me. And whatever you do, do not attempt to attack him! He killed our brethren without so much as a pause, and he'll do the same to any of you! We've fought for so long, but the Faunus are unstoppable! And we will rise up and take our place as the superior race of this world!" Adam yelled, raising his fist in the air.

The crowd cheered, and Adam left the podium. I was about to try to slip out when Ilia grabbed my shoulder. "Come on, Adam wanted to see us after his speech." She said to me.

Ilia and I walked through the back and into a large room that resembled a War Room. In the middle, surrounded by advisors, stood Adam. "Ilia. Onyx. Good, you're here." Adam said to us.

"You wanted to see us, sir?" I asked.

"Yes." Adam replied, turning towards the others with him, "Leave us." He continued.

The group said nothing and left, leaving me with Adam and Ilia.

"What's this about, Adam?" Ilia questioned.

Adam walked back to his table and positioned himself above a map of Vale, "You two are going to be the ones to strike him down. I want this done as bloody as possible. Make an example of this monster!" He shouted.

I made a mistake. A potentially big mistake. _Fuuuuuuck…._ I thought to myself.

 **I kinda hit a roadblock with this chapter, I really oughta write a synopsis for the chapter like I did before. Anyways, I got a new job, which has been killing me and leaving me physically drained for the whole day. So that's the real reason for this chapter being late. I decided that a monthly update would be for the best. Even though it may not always be exactly one month apart, but it'll help because it gives me extra time to plan out how I will write the chapter. Also I got my RTX tickets! Woo!**


	12. Chapter 11: Living a Double Life

**New Haven, Connecticut**

 **United States, Earth**

 **January 17, 2018**

"Johnson! Floor it!" Agent Krieger shouted. "You three, return fire!" He continued. Bullets whizzed past their car and through the windows of the Humvee. Along with the loud, repeated, sustained fire from the fifty caliber Browning machine gun mounted on the Humvee.

"What the fuck is going on?!" John Mason demanded, sheltering his fiancée from the gunfire and the chunks of shattered glass.

"We're getting you out of here, Mason! Somebody in the Navy called in a favor to extract you two from here!" Krieger replied.

"Who?"

Agent Krieger grabbed his M416 and returned fire from the broken back window, "Lieutenant Samantha Taylor!"

The Humvee drove off, tires screeching. Meanwhile, Blackwatch Apache helicopters whirred overhead as they opened fire on the city. "Misfit, this is Agent Krieger, get the chopper spun up! Now!" Krieger shouted into his radio.

"Sir, what's going on in the city?" Misfit asked through the radio.

"Blackwatch is attacking the city! Repeat, Blackwatch is attacking the city!"

It was carnage outside, Hydra missiles hitting buildings, debris and rubble getting thrown everywhere. People screaming. Gunfire. John and Natalie covered their ears, crossing their fingers that they survive.

The drive to the rendezvous point was only a short one, but it felt like an eternity.

* * *

 **Onboard the USS Titan**

 **Five miles off the coast of Connecticut, Atlantic Ocean, Earth**

 **January 17, 2018**

"Where's Samantha?" John asked the soldier in front of him.

"She's on her way up, civvie. You can ask her whatever you want when she gets here." The tired soldier responded dismissively.

John has never been on an aircraft carrier before, but anywhere was better than the warzone that became of New Haven, Connecticut. Why Blackwatch was attacking the United States homeland was anyone's guess. He also didn't expect his best friend's girlfriend to bail him and Natalie out of trouble.

Natalie ran to hug Samantha, as the two of them were close friends. "Sam! It's so good to see you!" She said as the two of them hugged.

"Hi, Nat. I'm just glad to get you two out of there." Samantha replied.

"What was the deal behind that?" John asked.

"I intercepted a message from Blackwatch saying that they were targeting you. And while I haven't talked to _him_ in a while, I didn't want you two to be in the line of fire."

John raised an eyebrow, "Wait… him? Do you mean-"

"Yes, Johnnie, I do. Brandon and I are through, we've been through. Ever since his infection, I've cut contact with him."

"Sam, he's disappeared. He's been gone for a while." John reminded.

"I know, but he's not human anymore. And I can't have him jeopardizing my military career."

John was taken aback, he knew how close the two of them were. And she's now cutting contact with him? "Samantha, you have to tell him. If I know Brandon well enough, he's still probably clinging to you, wherever he is."

"You tell him. I don't want to see him again."

John sighed and walked away, frustrated that his best friend's girlfriend is willing to just outright ignore him.

Samantha turned away and started to walk back inside, but she turned around, "Blackwatch has made their first move. We just have to contain them here, and in Manhattan." She said before disappearing below deck.

It was a short walk from the flight deck to the War Room, and Lieutenant Samantha Taylor had to return to her assignment. "He can go to Hell for all I care." She said to herself. The door to the War Room opened and it was a mess as always. But the Lieutenant ignored it all and walked over to her seat, "Admiral, sir, what did I miss?" She asked.

"We got reports of Blackwatch attacks all over the East Coast." Admiral Clyde Wayne said. "We don't know what they're after, but they seem hellbent on destroying everything." He continued.

"So, what's our next plan, sir?"

Admiral Wayne pondered for a few seconds, "Get our choppers in the skies, we need to get support to our troops in the city."

* * *

 **Abandoned Warehouse, Vale, Remnant**

 **One Day Since I Arrived**

To kill or not to kill? That was the question plaguing me. On one hand, I was within arm's length of Adam Taurus. But on the other hand, I was undercover. The amount of damage I could do to his plans with my new cover. This mother fucker wouldn't even think of the fact that I'm able to hide amongst his precious White Fang. I had to maintain my cover as best as I can, "We're taking him down?" I asked.

"You deaf? Yes, that's what you two are doing!" Adam shouted, anger in his voice.

"He's as good as dead, Adam. Our people have dealt with many threats, he is no different." Ilia growled.

I needed to find out what else these two knew about me, they couldn't have known much else other than my shapeshifting. Depending on what they already knew would determine what my next action is. "What do we know about him?" I asked. It was perplexing that I was asking for information about myself, but I had to do it.

"We know that he has a healing ability far superior than Aura. Pain seems to have no effect on him either; as when I slashed him across the chest, he didn't even slow down. He can morph his arms into weaponry, so he has a serious advantage in offensive attacks. But, it's of no concern. You two will be able to defeat him." Adam angrily responded.

I found it funny how Adam was talking about me, unaware that I'm literally right across the table from him. I wasn't going to try to kill him now, my plan is to be undercover and do damage to his plans. Once I have enough of his allies' dead, I'll move in on him.

"Then I guess we don't have any time to waste. Come on, Onyx." Ilia ordered, grabbing her weapon and walking out the room. Her weapon was some sort of whip that discharged electricity, I'll have to stay on my toes. But I was about to walk out the room when Adam grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Onyx, I didn't want to have to tell you this, but he killed your father." Adam softly replied, his voice having a slight tone of anxiety to it.

"He did?" I asked in return, trying to put on a façade of mourning. I killed Onyx's father, a man named Midnight. Personally, I had no regrets killing them both. Now the father and the son are reunited in death.

The fool Taurus bought it, "I managed to grab his weapon. Your father would've wanted you to have it." Adam replied, handing me a sword. The sword was jet black, about as long as my arm, and was charged with some sort of fire energy. I pushed a button and the mechanical gears in the blade whirred to life as it transformed into a gun the size of an assault rifle. The design of the rifle was slick, and it had a bright metallic sheen to it.

"I will drench my father's blade in this human's blood." I angrily said.

"His sword was an interesting one, the blade builds up energy by physical attacks. Then, you load the energy into the rifle and use that as ammunition. Now take that weapon and enact retribution on him!"

I pocketed the sword and walked out, Ilia was waiting on the other side and she seemed impatient. But she said nothing and walked away. "So, what's the plan, Amitola?" I asked.

"You're going to sneak into Beacon and spy on him, I'll stick to the city and see what we can learn. Stay in contact, Onyx. This human is extremely dangerous."

"You don't need to tell me twice."

Ilia bolted off, leaving me to question how the hell I was going to live a double life for the foreseeable future.

 **Welp, I got my RTX tickets in the mail today. Everything is going according to plan. But I've been overwhelmed with work for the last few weeks. A quick heads up, I'm going to do a bit of a time skip with the next chapter. Not a big one, just a couple days. However I will have a somewhat big time skip later on, like a couple months. But that's not for a little while given how later that part is in this, and how long it takes me to put out a fic. You'd think I wouldn't have much else to do, but I find it hard to detach myself from gaming sometimes. Anyways, that's enough fluff lol. See you guys next time. Also let me know if any of you are going to RTX in Austin, it'd be great to have people to talk to since I'm going alone. Also, I know what some of you are about to say, but I have plans for Adam later on in the fic. So that's why I didn't kill him here.**


	13. Chapter 12: Another Day, Another Murder

**Professor Port's Classroom**

 **Beacon, Vale, Remnant**

 **Eleven Days after my Arrival**

"I must say, Mister Shepard, you have become quite the aspiring Huntsman! Why, you would even give Miss Schnee a run for her money!" Professor Peter Port shouted, clapping his hands together with a loud smack.

"These things are easier than I thought they'd be." I replied as I pulled my claws out of a now smoking and very deceased Boarbatusk, "Still, why do they take the form of animals?" I continued. The Grimm I've seen have taken the form of giant birds, werewolves, grizzly bears, Harambe, scorpions and even snakes. And the one I just slaughtered was basically a wild boar.

"That is a question that has been asked for centuries, my good man. Some say that the spirits of animals are tortured and turned into the Creatures of Grimm. Others say that they are created by a very powerful and evil entity to wreak havoc on our world. But don't let it go to your head, old sport. There are plenty more dangerous and vicious Grimm out there!" Port reminded me.

It had been a rather eventful week. I had been meeting with Port to learn more about the Grimm monsters almost every day since he offered to instruct me. I learned a plethora of new information, some of it I already knew from Onyx's memories, but a lot of it I wasn't aware of. But between Qrow and I drinking, Yang stalking me, clandestine meetings with Ilia and the White Fang, crazy ramblings from Oobleck, and general roaming around the city; I had a lot on my plate. More importantly, I needed to meet up with Ilia again, she apparently wanted to discuss something urgent with me. Or, more specifically, Onyx. As the ignorant chameleon girl had no clue that I was going to kill her, or that I was wearing the face of one of her friends that I murdered.

"I'll keep that in mind, Port. But I need to run somewhere, so same time tomorrow?"

"Of course! In the meantime, I believe Oobleck wanted to talk to you again." Port replied.

I said nothing in response and walked out. As entertaining as it was watching Oobleck lose his mind and ramble like a meth head, I need to put it off and rendezvous with Ilia. Pulling out Onyx's Scroll and altering my vocal cords to resemble the voice of that dead leopard man, I tapped the button to call Ilia Amitola.

"There you are!" Ilia shouted in my ear.

"Calm down, Amitola! I was undercover! Where are you anyways? I think we're ready." I reply.

"I'm by Xiong's nightclub, I already told you why I won't go to Beacon."

"Do you think we should try to capture Belladonna since we're here?" I asked, reminded of how Ilia told me that her and Blake have a history together.

"If an opportunity presents itself, then yes. But our orders from Taurus are to kill the mutant monster." Ilia replied, pausing briefly. I had suspicions that Ilia had feelings for Blake, but I couldn't confirm. "But yeah, we're ready. Should we strike tomorrow?" She continued.

"No, let's get him tonight. I hear he's been seeing this blonde girl at Beacon, and tonight he's heading to her dorm. We'll ambush him in the courtyard."

"Sounds good."

I let out a malicious grin, knowing Ilia can't see it. "Tonight's gonna be a bloodbath."

"Calm down, Onyx. I know you want your revenge, but until then, I need you to remain inconspicuous." Ilia remarked, hanging up.

I was left alone in the hallway; my goal was one step closer now. All I had to do was wait till later today to strike at Ilia. Once I had her knowledge and her form, I would return to Adam and move in for the kill.

I was grateful to have my own room at Beacon, that way I could stop taking up Qrow's couch. But I opened the door to my room, only to have Yang sitting on my bed. "Umm, what are you doing in here, Yang?" I asked.

"Hey, you! I wanted to come with you and my Uncle Qrow to the bar!"

"How'd you get in?"

The blonde ignored my question, "Come on! Let's go!"

"Yang, how did you-"

"Just come on, already!" Yang interrupted and grabbed my arm, dragging me with her.

I had no choice but to get dragged by Yang out of my appointed dorm room and outside. It didn't take long to get out of the dorm rooms and into the courtyard. "You still never answered my question, Yang." I reminded her.

"Uncle Qrow unlocked the door for me! But he wants to discuss things with you more, and I'm coming with because I want a drink too!" Yang replied, motioning to her bright yellow motorcycle. "Hop on!" She continued.

I was struck with nervousness, I've been afraid of motorcycles ever since I was a child. Not because of anything happening to me, but because my dad had one when I was younger. And I almost lost him to a serious motorcycle crash when I was four years old. Fortunately, he survived, and made a full recovery. Since then, I swore I'd stay away from getting on a motorcycle, even despite my nigh-indestructible nature now.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked.

I swallowed my anxiety and got on the back, "Nothing, let's go." I hesitantly said.

* * *

 **The Thirsty Huntsman, Vale, Remnant**

 **Eleven Days After My Arrival**

It was a short ride to this run-down bar that Qrow Branwen wanted to meet me at, and I was grateful to get off Yang's motorcycle. She was very aloof in her driving, speeding through stoplights and weaving through traffic.

Yang noticed my mood, "You okay? You look like you're gonna faint." She said, giggling.

I ignored the heckling of her and walked inside, this bar was somewhat empty when we walked in, and Qrow was already flailing his arms wildly to get our attention. "You guys! I got us drinks!" Qrow shouted.

"Alright, uncle! Quit making a fool out of yourself!" Yang reprimanded, darting past me and sitting in the booth across from Qrow. She patted the seat next to her, trying to get me to sit there. I didn't have a choice, Qrow was practically almost laying down in his seat, so I had no other option but to sit next to Yang.

"So, what's the occasion?" I asked, sitting in the booth next to the blonde. I was gonna need to have a talk with Yang, she broke into my room, has been acting weird any time she's around me, and tried to get me to hold on to her on our way here. She's wasting her time trying to hit on me.

"No real occasion, just drinks." Qrow replied.

A waitress came by and dropped off a bottle of whiskey, and two shot glasses. "Death Stalker Whiskey?" I asked.

"Yep, I got this for us two cause Yang is a lightweight." Qrow smugly remarked.

"Am not!" Yang protested.

"You're tipsy after one strawberry sunrise, firecracker. Plus, you can't stand the taste of anything stronger."

"Oh yeah?" Yang asked, grabbing the bottle and taking a large drink. She immediately made a face, "Bleh!" She continued, causing Qrow and I to laugh.

It was a good few hours spent laughing, talking about differences between the two worlds, and swapping stories; but it all came to a halt when Onyx's Scroll went off. I got up and pulled the Scroll out, "One sec, you two." I said to the two of them. It was a message from Ilia saying: _Onyx! I'm in position! Get your ass over here now!_

"Shit…" I said to myself, "I gotta go, guys. I'll catch up later."

Qrow said nothing but Yang waved at me as I left. As I walked outside, I noticed it was already dark, it was surprising because it didn't seem like I was there for very long. I felt like the days on this planet are shorter than the days back on Earth. I had a job to do, Ilia Amitola was next on my list.

I turned towards Beacon Academy and took off.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Vale, Remnant**

It didn't take long for me to get back to Beacon, but when I arrived, it was already dark, and the courtyard was abandoned. I shape-shifted into Onyx and pulled out his Scroll, sending a message to Ilia: _I'm by the fountain, meet me here._

It only took a few minutes for Ilia to make it over, "There you are!" She whispered.

"Yeah, sorry, Ilia." I replied, deciding to stop masquerading my actual personality. Time for this charade to end, so I punched Ilia in the face, sending her flying back a good fifteen feet.

The confused chameleon Faunus girl quickly got up and readied her weapon, "Onyx?! You side with that mutant, against your own kind?!" She protested.

"Well… I was never with you to begin with." I replied, shape-shifting out of Onyx's appearance.

Fear washed over Ilia's face, realizing that Onyx was dead. "You! You killed him! All this time it was you!"

I smirked and readied my blade, "That's right, bitch. And you're next."

Ilia said nothing and flung her whip at me, it was effortless to dodge her attack. I held back when I sparred with Jaune and Pyrrha, but I don't need to hold back now. I leapt into the air and brought my blade down, determined to kill Ilia. The assassin blocked my attack with her weapon and discharged a blast of electricity from her whip. The voltage surged through my body, but I ignored the pain and kicked her in the chest. Viral mass surged over my body, hardening into dense biological armor.

"Adam was right about you, you're a monster!" Ilia shouted, renewing her attack. I ducked under her whip and grabbed her by the arm.

"This is over, Amitola." I replied, squeezing her arm. Her Aura began to falter and finally broke, causing her to scream. I flung her overhead and slammed her into the ground. Ilia held her hand behind her back and groaned, the mask over her eyes having come off. Tears welled up in her bright blue eyes as my arms grew into jagged claws. I raised my arm up, determined to take her life.

A blade interrupted my attack, "Shepard! Stop!" Blake shouted, holding my arm back with her sword sheath.

"Of course… you just had to show up. Get out of my way, Blake. Now." I said.

"I won't let you do this." Blake responded, stepping back and extending her arms out to her side. "If you want to get to her, you're going to have to go through me." She continued.

I retracted my viral armor but kept my claws out. I knew what I was about to do, and what it would mean. I brought my arm up in a blur and impaled Blake through the chest. "So be it." I added. Blake gasped and tried to pull my arm out of her body as the light faded from her eyes.

"BLAKE!" Ilia shouted, tears pouring down her face.

Something wasn't right, I've killed so many people that I know the feeling of stabbing someone all too well. I felt no warm blood trickling down my arm, instead it felt like I stuck my arm in a glacier. Blake's face turned a bright blue, almost taking on a frozen appearance.

"Ilia! Run!" A voice from behind me shouted, I looked back and saw Blake running towards me with her sword in one hand and sheath in her other hand. She tricked me, when I turned back to look at the Blake I stabbed, it was an ice sculpture. Blake made a clone of herself out of ice and tricked me into stabbing it.

I broke my arm free and picked up Ilia off the ground, trying to kill her before Blake can reach me. Gunshots rang out, and my other clawed arm was covered in ice. I dropped Ilia to the ground and slammed my arm into Blake's sheath, trying to break it free. Blake deflected my attack and swung her sword, more intent on keeping me occupied.

Ilia didn't run, she picked up her weapon and fought with Blake against me. Outnumbered, but not outmatched. I was furious, not only did Blake try to stop me, but now she's fighting against me. Blake took another swing at me and I grabbed her by the throat. I started to give in to the infection, my vision turned red, and was bent on killing them both. It took everything I had to snap out of it and throw Blake as far away from me as I can.

The chameleon Faunus assassin swung at me and I kicked her in the leg, a loud snap came from her knee as she screamed and fell to the ground. I leapt on top of Ilia and smashed her ribcage in as I tore her apart with my claws, blood flying everywhere. I consumed Ilia quickly and was hit with all of her memories, she had feelings for Blake, she was Adam's trusted confidant, and, most importantly, she knew Adam's other lieutenants and where they were.

"You monster!" Blake shrieked from behind me, snapping me out of my trance. I turned around to see Blake flailing her weapon wildly, tears flowing down her face. "You killed her! You murderer!" She kept shouting.

I ducked under the attacks of the crying cat Faunus and grabbed her weapon. "She brought this on herself, Blake! You know she came here to kill me, right?" I shouted.

"She came here to kill you because you killed all those others!"

"Because they tried to kill me first, you stupid cat!"

"Where's her body?!" Blake demanded.

"Probably at the bottom of this cliff by now! Now if you don't want to join her, put your fucking weapon away!" I threatened.

Blake smacked me across the face with her weapon's sheath and walked away, having bought my lie. I got what I needed from Ilia, but I think I made things worse for myself here. Ozpin was going to hear about this for certain, and there's no telling what he'd do. I thought I would've been able to do this in secret, but Blake had to interfere. Now she's going to jeopardize my entire plan, I already had enough problems with everyone else. And with the fact that if she didn't create an ice clone to trick me, she'd be dead too. Blake saw I would've killed her.

I sighed, retracted the viral mass that was my claws, and walked back to my appointed room, feeling like it won't be my place to stay for much longer.

 **Welp, RTX came and went. It was a blast, I met Michael, Lindsay, Barbara, Boogie2988, Neebs Gaming, and made some new friends. But the honeymoon period was over as quickly as it began, sadly. My best friend has been in the Air Force for a few months now, and soon his wife is going to be living on base with him. And I won't see either of them again till February. The realization that I'm gonna be alone has left me depressed for a little while, so it's been difficult trying to do anything. Sorry about the lengthy ending note, it's just I'm dealing with a lot. It's not a pity party I promise. Also if you made it this far, you can tell Blake didn't die. I'm hoping you guys don't stop at that part, thinking I killed Blake. I didn't, I wouldn't want anything like that happening to my second favorite cat girl. My favorite being Kali obviously.**


	14. Update

Hey guys, I've run into a bit of a SNAFU. My laptop went kaput. And I'm having to write this from my phone. I ordered a new laptop, should be here hopefully by the end of this week. I lost this upcoming chapter sadly to the crash. So I'm gonna have to start it over.

That's why this chapter is gonna be a tad bit late. Also I have to tie up some loose ends, so this chapter is gonna be less about me, and more about Blake following me and about Blackwatch. Because I really need to give an update about them.

I know some people were curious as to how Blake knew about Ilia attacking me, I was going to address it in this upcoming chapter. I wanted her attempted intervention to be a surprise.

That's about all, peace.

-Grave


	15. Chapter 13: A Cat With a Plan

**Beacon, Vale, Remnant**

 **Ten Days Earlier**

Blake stormed down the hall and pushed her way past Qrow Branwen, furious at the heated exchange that her and the violent, mutant psychopath, Shepard had. He completely disregarded the value of life, and probably planned on massacring the entire White Fang. The Cat Faunus had to do something, anything. "I won't let you, Shepard." Blake said to herself, walking back to her dorm room. She may have abandoned the White Fang years ago, but she wasn't going to let some off-worlder wipe them out.

"Hey, kitty cat! How's it-" Yang was asking as Blake walked into their team dorm room.

"I'm going into town." Blake interrupted.

"What are you-"

"It's personal, Yang. I'll be back in a few days." Blake said as she grabbed a little satchel and filling it with Lien cards, Dust crystals, and a couple magazines for her Gambol Shroud pistol. The Cat Faunus was out the door as quickly as she arrived, her plan was to shadow the mutant. He was hiding something, of that much, Blake was certain.

"I'll stop you." Blake said to herself before heading off.

* * *

 **Some time later…**

It didn't take long for Blake to pick up the trail, Shepard was careless about covering his tracks and watching his back. Ignorance? Or arrogance? Despite all her intuition, Blake couldn't quite tell. From the roof of the Dust store, the cat Faunus had quite the vantage point. All she had to was follow his every move. Blake would be like a shadow. Undetectable, invisible, and most importantly-

"Hey, Blake! What's up?" Sun Wukong shouted from behind her.

Blake nearly fell over from being startled, "Sun?! What the hell?" She protested, furious that someone was able to sneak up on her. She, however, didn't expect it to be her good friend, Sun Wukong.

"What's goin' on? You're like hyper focused!" Sun asked.

"Quiet! And go away! I'm busy!" Blake whined, turning around to go back to spying on the mutant. Only to see that he was gone…

"What the- Where'd he go?!" Blake shouted, completely forgetting that Sun was behind her.

"Where'd who go?"

Blake shoved the nosy Monkey Faunus away "None of your business!" She yelled.

"Whoa! Well, it's my business now, Blake. Now who are you following?" Sun prodded.

"It's MY problem, Sun. Not yours."

Sun crossed his arms, "Can't you just tell me?

Blake shook her head, "I'm sorry, but this is my fight."

Sun wouldn't budge, "If you're gonna act this way, then I'm coming with you."

"Fine but keep hidden."

* * *

 **Later in the day….**

"So, this guy, he killed some of your friends?" Sun asked, still processing the information that Blake shared with him. None of it made sense, a mysterious man that can create weapons with his body and goes on a killing spree?

"Well, they weren't my friends, Sun, but they were Faunus. And I fear he's going to wipe out the White Fang. He'll destroy everything my father fought for." Blake grimly replied.

"This Shepard guy sounds like a problem, but what do you plan on doing?"

Blake stood up from her seat at a local café that the two of them went to in order to discuss details, "If I try to approach Adam, he'd just attack me. So that's not an option. I can't even go to the White Fang to warn them, even then, there's always the possibility that Shepard would learn of my involvement and try to kill me too."

"You really think he'd do that, Blake?"

Blake raised her arms in frustration, "Of course he would! He told me himself that he's killed tons of people! Look, I do have somebody in the White Fang that I could possibly trust, but I'll need you to watch my back."

"Wait, who's this somebody?"

Blake lowered her head slightly "An old friend of mine…"

* * *

 **About an hour later…**

"Ilia!" Blake shouted after seeing her old friend at their designated rendezvous point.

"Spare the formalities, Belladonna. I'm not in the mood, not to mention Taurus has a capture order on you." Ilia scolded as she walked in. "But I'll keep you out of my report if you have information on my target." She continued.

"Are you alone?" Blake asked.

"Technically, no. But my assistant is out on his own collecting information, so he's not here now." Ilia responded.

"Well, I was following him earlier today, but he disappeared."

"You're helping the White Fang again?" Ilia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not helping the White Fang, Ilia, I'm helping **you**." Blake replied.

Ilia got up, "What's your gimmick, Blake? You're always one step ahead."

"No gimmicks, Ilia."

"I don't have time for this…" Ilia grumbled as she left for the door.

"I don't have one I promise!" Blake protested as she blocked Ilia's exit route. "Ilia, he's dangerous! He'll kill you! He'll kill me! He won't stop until he destroys the White Fang! He's just like Adam!"

"At least Adam is looking out for us! You turned your back on your own kind!" Ilia shouted, reaching for her weapon.

Blake was about to reach for her blade when two monkey clones jumped from the ceiling and held both her and Ilia's arms. "Enough!" Sun shouted as he landed in the middle of them.

"Who the hell-" Ilia was saying before being cut off.

"I'm just trying to keep the White Fang safe!" Blake protested, "Please, just help me stop Shepard from killing more people." The Cat Faunus pleaded.

Ilia let out a loud sigh before taking her White Fang mask off, "Alright, Blake. I'll help."

"Woohoo!" Sun shouted, "Now THAT is how it's done!" He continued.

"Thank you, Ilia. Now, here's my plan…" Blake said, pulling out her Scroll.

"This better be good, Blake." Ilia muttered.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, across the galaxy…**

 **Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, Earth**

 **Onboard the USS Kennedy**

 **Four Days Later**

Colonel Douglas Rooks took a drink from his coffee cup, despite being a rugged leader, Rooks liked his coffee with two sugars and creamer. The last ten days had been a mess, what with Blackwatch attacking Manhattan and Connecticut, the bald colonel regretted nothing from it all. Those men who volunteered knew what they signed up for. Besides, it had accomplished what he wanted, a distraction to give him and the main force time to escape and board the Kennedy aircraft carrier that they had stationed in Seattle. An odd diversion to be sure, especially considering that there was a good chance the United States government already knew who ordered the attack. But there was no turning back now, if Rooks wanted to murder THOR and avenge his brother, he had to do something.

"Etheridge! What have you learned about this object?" Rooks asked, curious as to this meteor that landed in the small country of Japan. Not much was known about it at the current moment, scientists couldn't determine where it came from, who or what made it, or even the material that it was made from. All they've determined is that it was a crystal that glowed a soft violet that gave off a powerful energy reading.

"It's in the hands of the Japanese military, sir. It's also being studied by scientists, astronomers, and geologists the world over." Staff Sergeant Jon Etheridge responded.

"It won't be for long." Rooks muttered to himself.

"Sir?"

"Tell the captain to report to me immediately." Rooks ordered. Blackwatch would be declared rogue, cut off from supplies, and hunted with extreme prejudice. "And get a tally on all aircraft and weaponry on this ship, I want a report by day's end." He continued.

"Yes, sir!" Etheridge snapped to a salute before darting out.

There was already no turning back, but with this course of action, Rooks knew that assuming THOR didn't kill him first, he would certainly be killed by the United States Military should they get their hands on him. Regardless of if he succeeded or not.

* * *

 **Six Days later**

 **Vale, Remnant**

"Ilia, I think something's up with your assistant." Sun said, walking into their designated meeting location. The monkey Faunus had encountered something peculiar during his spying. Shepard entered an abandoned warehouse, then after a few minutes, Onyx came out. Sun concluded that maybe Onyx had defected and sided with the mutant, so he called Blake to meet him there and she spied on the building for a few hours. Granted Ilia had been meeting Onyx on her own, as to not have him aware of Ilia working with Blake, but if Onyx was working against her, he needed to be stopped as well. Ten days have passed since the three of them started working together, and Ilia was getting impatient. Blake and Sun were trying to stop her from acting rash, especially since it seemed like her assistant, Onyx Fletcher, was working with Shepard. None of them had any ideas why.

"Not this again…" Ilia exasperatedly grumbled.

"You don't think he's working against you?"

"He wants Shepard dead almost as much as Taurus does, Sun."

"How do you know that?"

"Because Shepard killed his father." Ilia darkly replied.

Sun grimaced at the statement, if anybody harmed someone in his family or even his team, Sun would want revenge too. "Maybe Blake will have something to report." He reminded. Blake told him that she'd head back soon. "Learn anything else?" He continued.

"Well, I think we should attack during the night. Or I could poison his drink, considering he's an alcoholic."

"I think Blake just wants him out of the picture, not dead."

Ilia scowled at the monkey man, "Well I want him dead."

Sun and Ilia found themselves in a stand-off, "We just need him to stop attacking the White Fang!" Sun shouted.

The two were about to come to blows before Blake walks in the room, quietly closing the door behind her. Blake proceeded to walk over to a nearby chair and sit down, a blank look on her face. Sun and Ilia walked over to the silent Cat Faunus, "What happened, Blake? Did you find out something?" Sun asked.

"He can shapeshift!" Blake blurted.

Sun and Ilia both were taken aback, what did Blake mean? If it was true, then this changed everything. But it was preposterous!

"Sh-shapeshift?" Sun asked.

"He changed into Onyx! I saw it! I saw it!" Blake yelled, starting to panic.

"Calm down, Belladonna!" Ilia demanded, slapping Blake across the face. "You're probably seeing things!" she continued.

"No, I'm not, Ilia! I saw it! He ducked into this alley and I saw it happen!" The paranoid Cat Faunus shouted.

"I don't buy that for a minute! I'll go meet him and prove you wrong! Onyx and I will go take him down and end this!" Ilia stormed out the door, not believing a word Blake was saying.

"Ilia, wait! Please!" Blake pleaded, futilely trying to convince the angry lizard girl. To no avail, Ilia was gone.

Sun grabbed his weapons and started to follow her, "Let's go!" he demanded.

"No, Sun. Stay here, I would prefer to keep you out of this. I'll stop her, she's gonna get herself killed!" Blake replied, grabbing Gambol Shroud and darting off.

* * *

 **Beacon, Vale, Remnant**

 **Present Day**

I sighed, having apparently crossed some sort of line. Ilia's knowledge is invaluable, so I had no regrets killing her. However, my new concern was retribution from Blake. Killing her was not an option, as that would not help things at all. Especially considering that I'm trying to work with these people since I have no apparent way home. Blake's plan was more than likely complain to Ozpin about what happened, so I figured the best bet was to beat her to it and get Ozpin my side of the story before she can. With that in mind, I set out for his office.

"I can't believe I'm even fucking doing this." I said to myself.

 **Another year gone by. I had a rather messy ending of this year, if I'm being honest. You're aware of the delay with my old laptop finally giving out, and I did get a new one. Problem is I'm financing it. I ran the idea by my dad and he was... less than enthusiastic about it. Going so far as to threaten to return it behind my back if I ever brought it to his house. Whether he's serious or not, I really don't know. Which is pretty damn sad. Anyways, I kept my new laptop with my mother and was only able to write while I was there. I had many different thoughts on how I wanted this chapter to go, writing it, rewriting parts of it, even scrapping what I had previously and starting over. So I hope you guys like the final result as I finally settled on this. I have the second half of this fic pretty much down pat, so I shouldn't have too much difficulty writing it out. Again, I'm really sorry for the delay. New laptop works great though!**

 **-Grave**


End file.
